Five Nights at Freddy's 4: Waking Nightmares
by Freelancer Josiah
Summary: Alex Redding is in a coma. The Fazbear band is dead, as is Golden Freddy - for good this time. Yet, the end has not been written as Joseph Adams ventures to Candy's Burgers and Fries, chasing a desperate lead that could save them... Meanwhile, Alex is coming face to face with true nightmares in a struggle to survive and find the truth of his connection to Fazbear Entertainment.
1. Prologue: Double Trouble

GUESS WHO'S BAAACK?! Hooooo boy so do I have a looong tale of my absence for you. Lemme just break down a few questions before they even get asked.

1\. Yes, I'm back. Hopefully heralding the return to more regular updates because now I have an actual project to work on, especially since now the stress in my life has minimized in several major ways.

2\. Yes, I am aware of about a bajillion things that happened in both Sister Location and (probably) in the books that are gonna make this REALLY hard to write. Haven't read the books yet myself so I won't be factoring them in too much, but I do have some ideas for how to incorporate SL. (PS - if anyone wants to buy me the books, I'll gladly point out my Amazon account :P)

3\. This story is gonna be told from two perspectives. Joseph Adams, and Alex Redding himself. Odds are I'll post them both in single chapters instead of trying to divide them up.

4\. Yes I did write a novel, waaaay back in November. It's been sitting on my hard drive crying out for me to give it a full edit for ages. Eventually I'll publish it on Amazon as well, and I'll gladly point you fine people towards it in hopes that you'll give me money. :P

5\. This space intentionally left blank.

I think that covers it all, right? Good. Ask further questions in reviews if you wish. I've blathered on enough, so let's get this show back on the road!

* * *

 **POV: Joseph Adams.**

 **Location CBAF, Cordon Entrance**

I shook my head a little bit as I put my cruiser into park outside the cordoned-off fencing. Truth be told, I wasn't completely sure why I'd bought into this ghost story; all I had to go off of was a letter from a missing man, a folder from someone I'd seen driven to alcoholism, and a top hat. Normally this wouldn't even be close to enough for me to devote any resources to it, let alone go out myself, but this was a much more personal case. Something about it all had made far too much sense for me to just let it go.

I sighed for a moment, before slowly climbing out of the cruiser, making sure to grab the top hat and folder as I did. I checked my things, as well – my standard issue baton, cuffs, taser, pepper spray, and a .45 automatic sidearm. Mentally I smirked a bit; Alex had always been the ace at hand to hand fighting back during Academy, but when it came to the shooting range I always had the advantage over him. Remembering our time there made me remember where he was now, laying in a hospital bed comatose. I focused once more, making sure I had everything as I set out down the worn, overgrown road towards my destination.

As I walked I had time to think everything over. This had all started roughly three weeks ago, when I'd been leaving the hospital. I'd only come in to check in on Alex, see if there were any updates. On my way out, I'd been stopped at the front desk – a package had arrived, addressed to me. When I took it back home and opened it up, I'd discovered it was from Frederick Faz, a former higher-up at Fazbear Entertainment that had disappeared some years ago. He had been a friend to Alex and the animatronic band, so his vanishing had left more than a few questions left unanswered. I'd attempted to look into it once or twice, but had no luck – he did not want to be found. Faz had left a letter, explaining that even though Alex had taken out Golden Freddy once and for all there was still at least one lead left in the entire Fazbear Entertainment mess, and that it was up to me to try and stop it. He had warned me of another enemy – one even more bloodthirsty than Golden Freddy had been.

He told me that the enemy was connected to the defunct Candy's Burgers and Fries, another animatronic-themed restaurant that had opened to compete with Freddy Fazbear's. In a twisted way, that made sense; early on after the 'Toy Incident', the new band had gone with some AI researchers to Candy's to try and see if there was anything interesting about the animatronics left there – after all, in its heyday Candy's had been a close competitor to Fazbear's so it made sense there could have been some AI technology involved. That had apparently not ended well, and orders were given to cordon the area off and keep the general public away. Luckily, I wasn't the general public so they'd waved me through – being connected to a hero had its advantages.

Regardless, the thing that had really caught my eye was that there could be a lead to both replacement Fazbear endoskeletons and, more importantly, backups for the band's AI. This was critical – in the years between Faz's disappearance and the events of two months ago, every last member of the band had been 'killed'. Their endoskeletons were destroyed in what seemed like tragedies and their memories had been wiped from the trauma, effectively rendering them 'dead'. This had been the catalyst that drove Alex to booze and obsession in the first place. If there was any chance of bringing them back, I had to take it for his sake.

Faz's letter hadn't explained much beyond that, but I had found a folder at Alex's house talking about Candy's – apparently he had recovered it from Faz's abandoned house. Labeled R-A-T, it had numerous schematics, news clippings, and other information gathered from and pointed at Candy's Burgers and Fries. What little I could piece together had suggested that Candy's had acquired a Fazbear endoskeleton and had attempted to adapt it for their own purposes. Whether or not they were successful was unknown, but I had my own suspicions; whether or not I was right would involve me checking the place over. I'd managed to talk the research team into letting me have five days open and investigating the property, though I hadn't been able to make it here until evening.

I laughed softly to myself. Five nights at a long-abandoned kid's animatronic restaurant. Wasn't this exactly what Alex had to deal with, so long ago? I chuckled once more as I came around the bend of the path... The laugh dying in my throat as I looked up at the foreboding looking, dark building. I shuddered a bit, fishing the key out as I pulled a bit of tape off the door, starting to unlock it.

In theory, this place should be safe – they'd gone through it and hadn't found anything actually dangerous, or at least that's what they told me. In practice, though...

I rested a hand on my pistol, before taking a deep breath and pushing through.

At least Alex is getting some rest...

Unknown

POV: Alex Redding

The first thing I heard as my eyes slowly drifted open was the faint sound of a grandfather clock striking the hour. I groaned a little bit, trying to roll back over on my side in the bed – I wasn't keen on getting up just yet, for some reason I felt like crap. Groggily, I tried to remember what I'd done the day before to result in me feeling twinges of pain in muscles I didn't even realize I had. I knew I was forgetting something specific... Did I have too much to drink last night? No, couldn't be. I'd polished off my last whiskey bottle a few days ago, after I'd decided to –

And then it hit me full-force, causing my eyes to snap open. Fazbear's Fright. Golden Freddy. Springtrap.

The fire.

Shaking my head I immediately looked myself over, and found myself a bit impressed. Considering the amount of damage and punishment I'd taken, I looked surprisingly good; a few new scars, and my beard desperately needed tending, but overall I was in shockingly good shape. I wonder how long I was out...

Stock taken I looked up – and got my second surprise of the day. This wasn't a hospital room at all. In fact, it seemed like a child's bedroom... That was, to say the least, a bit disconcerting. And also eerily familiar.

I had never remembered much of my childhood – I'd talked to a few psychiatrists about it shortly after joining the police force, but had never gotten anywhere. As far as they could tell, I had some kind of mental 'blockage' that kept me from ever figuring out what had happened. All they could figure was that it was some form of trauma... And yet this room felt familiar, vaguely familiar. I wasn't even sure what it was all about. Maybe it had some connection to my childhood?

I shook my head for a moment as I heard some loud thumping outside my room, getting to my feet and climbing out of bed. There was a flashlight sitting on the end table next to me; grabbing it, I started moving towards the door. As I cracked it open I squinted, unable to see much – the hallway outside was pitch black, and apparently it was an overcast night because there wasn't even any light from the stars or moon. And yet, I could almost hear someone... Breathing.

Back when I was a rookie cop on the streets, I had been told by some more veteran officers about a set of instincts that every cop eventually learned, and learned to trust; a bad feeling about someone that gives you the extra half-second you need when they pull a knife or a gun, the feeling in the pit of your stomach that told you a domestic disturbance was about to turn violent, the voice in the back of your mind that tells you to pull that speeder over, he's probably high on something. All of it seemed to be folly to me when I was a recruit, but after several years – especially during my time with SWAT – I'd learned to listen.

Those instincts saved my life as I slammed the door roughly a split second before an inhuman scream rung out and clawed, mangled hands attempted to grab me. I heard the sound of steel against wood and leaned against the door, hoping that it would hold, expecting the ungodly beast to simply bash through the door...

Nothing. A few seconds passed, and the thing – whatever it was – thumped its way down the corridor again. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding before slowly cracking my door open again, shining the flashlight down the corridor to see if I could even glimpse whatever it was.

And that was when the third nasty surprise hit me as the beam played across Bonnie Bunny... Well, if Bonnie had been designed for a horror film, that was. Jagged, razor-sharp teeth, a mangled suit that showed endoskeleton parts clearly, claws that looked like they could gut me with a single move. The visage was a terror, and I stumbled away from the door, shaking my head rapidly as I heard another thumping on the other side. Shining my flashlight down that corridor, I saw a nightmarish version of Chica glaring at me, before disappearing around the corner once more.

Heart pounding in my ears I spun, trying to see if there was any sort of weapon I could use against them, and I got my third horrifying surprise as a brief view of a horrible, miniature version of Freddy disappeared back underneath my bed. I was panting, gasping for breath now, feeling like I was closed in somehow... I staggered back against my closet, shining the flashlight in. Thankfully, all that I saw was a Foxy plush, although something about it did not sate my unease. Especially as memories of the girl that I lost flowed back through me.

I shook my head, sighing heavily to myself as I heard more thumping in the halls outside, my heart starting to pound once more. Here I was, stuck in a living nightmare once more – the same way that I was so long ago, during my tenure as a Freddy Fazbear security guard.

Except this time, I didn't have any batons or firepower to tilt the deck in my favor. I just had an old flashlight and my wits. Add in the fact that there was still a grating feeling in the back of my mind that I was missing something, and it seemed like I was in it up to my neck.

Wouldn't be the first time, I suppose...

* * *

Man, it feels weird to be writing FNAF again. I've done so much other writing work since last I returned to Alex's adventures...

Oh. One final note.

6\. Whatever ends up happening after Sister Location's story is going to represent the final Alex Redding tale. I'm saying this here and now so that after whatever-comes-next (Twisted Ones book, I think?) you all will know that Alex's adventure isn't gonna include it. The story's already gone so far off canon that I don't mind picking a direct point to cut it off. So it'll be this, Sister Location, then some form of finale. Hey, I've got other projects I wanna eventually work on. :P

Anyway, read and review... Man it's good to say that again. XD


	2. Chapter 1: Adams Fades Into Darkness

He's actually updating?! Gasp, shock, horror, awe, blah blah. Yeah, I'm trying to keep on top of updates this time... Also trying a different bit of a writing style. I'll go into more detail about that in the footnote. Regardless I'm gonna try to keep with a once-a-week update schedule; chapters may not be as long, either. I've fallen way out of practice with writing as of late.

But yeah. This week we're tuning in for Adams' first night at Candy's. Next week, we'll catch up with how Alex is handling his newest set of nightmares...

* * *

 **Location CBAF**

 **11:50 PM**

 **Joseph Adams**

The door locked behind me as I entered the abandoned restaurant and I started to think over what I had learned talking to the researchers before coming here. Truth was, they knew very little about the location – just that it had been a competitor to Freddy Fazbear's before everything had gone to crap with Fazbear Entertainment. It had closed down relatively quickly, citing lack of finances and interest. Officially that was the story; Candy's Burgers and Fries had essentially wasted massive amounts of money on a second-rate animatronics company known as Uncanny Valley Robotics when Golden Mile refused to work with them due to a non-compete agreement they had signed with Fazbear's.

Unofficially, I had managed to get pieces of the real story from the research team that had gone in to investigate. I mulled the details over as I fished around for the key to security and reception; their first night of investigation had nearly ended in tragedy when the animatronics, thought to have been disabled, 'awakened' and attacked the team. Although it could not be confirmed whether they had true intelligence and sentience, one thing was clear – this place was just as dangerous as Fazbear's. Possibly even more so, considering the complete lack of any background information.

I finally managed to get the door unlocked, and it whooshed up into the ceiling. I immediately had a bad memory flash into my mind – the aftermath of the first Drone Incident, when we were doing a report and investigation of Freddy's... These were eerily similar to the doors used in the security office back there. That meant the hostility may not have been a new feature. I shook my head for a moment before heading inside. The room was moderately sized, with the standard set of monitors and old, abandoned coffee cups, along with the tablet that I assumed controlled the security cameras.

This place was giving me an eerie flashback to what Alex had reported, in the aftermath of the first Incident... He'd also explained that there had been phone recordings briefing him on what was going on. I had a few briefings about what to expect, but nothing specific. On a whim, I reached towards the phone and pressed the 'Playback Recording' button. Sure enough, a voice came from the speaker.

 _"Uh hello, hello? Uh, junior manager here. Uh, so you're the new security guard, right? Yeah, it's great to finally have someone qualified for the job, you know? Ha ha. We had to, like, share the shifts because, you know, someone has to be here during the night. But with you, now we have more energy to be here during the day._

 _Uh, you see, we're probably going to be a lot busier from now on. Uh, you might have heard about the place called Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, right? Uh, yeah. They got shut down yesterday. I don't know why though. Probably something like a tax fraud or such, you know. I never really liked that place. I always had a bad feeling about it, you know..? Their pizzas weren't even that good. Uh, anyway._

 _I think you're gonna fit in really well here. The staff are really nice. Uh, we make sure to help each other out on everything. Like, uh, when we close late in the evening, we all make sure the floors and tables are properly cleaned, and all the dishes have been washed when we get off of the day. Uh, now, in order to save power of course, all the lights will, at night, be turned off. Don't worry, we have a desk lamp in the office you can use. If you open the maintenance panel, you'll be able to view the restaurant through the security cameras._

 _And the cameras all have a neat feature, which is night-vision mode. These cameras were the cheapest we could get, so the night-vision isn't THAT accurate. But it does retain the colours, which is good, I guess. Um, you can toggle the night-vision by activating the camera you're already on. And, uh, by the way, we have a security feature in the restaurant that limits how much power can be used after hours._

 _This is mainly so that our electricity bill doesn't skyrocket during the night if somebody forgot to turn off something somewhere, you know. Now, um, your office is also the information... area. Which you can tell because of the window counter in front of you. Uh, their should be a button underneath your desk too._

 _This is for the security door in front of your window. Uh, to your left and right there are also two doors. These doors are um, uhh... a little stupid. Um, you see... they require power to be closed. Um, I think it was something about some computer somewhere always checking if they're closed or not._

 _Or maybe it was a security feature, you know, in case the place goes dark. Like, if there was a power outage, you would be stuck here. But the doors open up automatically if that happens. Um, all three doors are power driven, so... basically, don't use too much power, otherwise the place will shut off completely._

 _Uh, but don't worry. As I said, the doors will open up if that happens, so you won't be trapped. Uh, I think that was all for now. Uh, yep. Good luck on your first night here. Uh, don't fall asleep, and have a good night."_

Well, things just get better and better here. On a whim I picked up the security tablet, glancing over the controls. I quickly flipped to the main stage camera, clicking on the night vision mode and saw two animatronic cats, both in the style of the 'Toy' animatronics with a plastic shine to them. That must be the infamous Candy and Cindy, the resident attack-bots.

I flipped between cameras, using the night vision to take a brief glimpse into every room and making a note of the building's layout. After all, I didn't know what I should be expecting and every bit of information I could find would provide an edge should things go south. Not that I planned to fight, that was – I was pretty much useless at hand to hand these days.

Still, I knew other ways to make sure I survived this adventure. Alex had never been much for subtlety, even back at academy. There was a reason he went to the SWAT team and I... Well, I went into undercover work. I'd learned subtlety, subterfuge, and most importantly the art of being undetected. These were the things I was going to bank on to save my bacon if things went downhill in a hurry.

And, considering the view that greeted me when I flipped night vision back on and checked the show stage again, that was going to be useful. The cats had disappeared from view. I could feel my pulse picking up a bit as I realized what was going on – the same thing that had happened to Alex was now starting to unfold against me. I glanced around the main office area; staying in here was not an option. The doors operated off electricity, there was a limiter in place, and I knew those bots were on their way here. I took another glance through the cameras, before taking the control tablet with me; at least it had good battery life. With that in hand I slipped through the right door, heading back into the entrance hall.

Alex would've taken them on directly. Personally I preferred to stay undetected – at least that way, I knew I'd be able to do some investigation of my own. I kept creeping forwards, heading into the main hallway of the building. The window into the office was at my back now, and I could vaguely hear stomping feet moving down towards me...

Quickly I glanced around, my own night vision slowly kicking in as I saw a few supply closets nearby. That seemed to be as good a place to stay out of sight as any, and I ducked into one to keep myself out of sight. Glancing down to the tablet I flicked through the cameras, trying to figure out who was in the hall with me...

I froze up as I saw it. Candy was standing there, staring into the camera. For a few moments I couldn't even breathe, holding my breath as he glanced around the room before stomping off again, heading towards the entrance hall. I slowly let out the breath I was holding... And then had to freeze up again as Cindy wandered through as well. She stopped, and looked directly at the supply closet I was currently hidden in.

Slowly I pulled my pistol out, ready to take a shot if she decided to press her luck. Fortunately for both of us, she headed towards the opposite hall – apparently they were going to try and catch me in between them... Luckily for me, I wasn't in that office anymore. As soon as they were both out of sight I slipped out of the closet and started heading along the building again. My ultimate goal was the Parts and Services room; maybe there, I could dig around and see if I could find any trace of Golden Mile parts.

I kept low, kept quiet, and kept my ears open. I could hear stomping sounds from the main hall again as I slipped into what seemed to be an abandoned party room; sounds like the cats were unsuccessful, and were moving on to a different location. I heard one set of footsteps starting to move away... Then another, heading towards where I was. I didn't trust these bots to not have night vision of their own, so I glanced around for somewhere to hide. Diving beneath one of the party tables, I kept quiet and glanced around.

A pair of feet thumped their way past the table, stopping close enough to my face that I could reach out and grab the robot by the ankle if I tried. I didn't move an inch, didn't make a sound, waited for her to walk away... Hoping that she would, but keeping one hand close to my gun just in case she decided to peek around.

It seemed to me like they were dumber than I expected. She just wandered back off, heading in what I thought was the direction of the main show stage. Counting my blessings I slowly crawled back out from under the table, heading for Parts and Service. Thankfully it was right next to the room, and the door was unlocked so I slipped inside.

The first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of assorted parts laying around for what seemed like a penguin-shaped animatronic. I figured I'd see more of that little bugger later, noting it down for future reference. I started to search the place, trying to find anything that looked even remotely like Golden Mile's robotics.

The problem I rapidly encountered was simple – even though I'd been exposed to more than enough of their parts in my numerous adventures with Alex and the band, it seemed like I hadn't learned the nuances of telling between them and other brands. I found myself holding different parts within inches of my face, trying to see if I could find some form of brand name put on it.

I sighed, setting it down and deciding to take another look later... And that's when a bit of paper fell off the workbench. I hadn't seen it in the low light at first. I bent down, picking it up and squinting, trying to make out the logo.

Paydirt. That was the Golden Mile emblem on the top of it. Quickly I folded the paper up, tucking it back into my pocket. The clock was still ticking and I knew my time was gonna run out sooner rather than later. It was time to head back to the office and take cover until dawn – by then the place would be bright enough, and I wouldn't have to worry about fumbling the keys and being a sitting duck trying to get out of the door.

I had a few more near-misses with Candy and Cindy, forcing me to duck between the main hall and the party rooms in order to stay out of sight but I eventually made it back to the office. Time to do a bit more investigation, then stand by and wait out the night. I tossed through the paperwork and booted the old PC on the desk up, starting to examine the files on it.

I found a series of old video files, and double-clicked on one to open it up. It was an old camera display, seeming to show a factory conveyor belt. I watched on as the camera panned to the right, then back to the left...

I nearly fell out of my chair. Standing there, in the shadows, was the Marionette from the second Fazbear's – the remote controlled one. Except... Different. The red lines had become blue, and the malevolent grin had become a horrifying grimace, twitching and staring along the conveyor line in the room. The camera panned back to the right, and when it came back the blue puppet was now staring directly into the camera, having come closer to it. It panned back towards the right...

This time I did fall out of my chair as the thing popped in front of the camera screen, eyes glowing with that horrible expression on its face. I slowly scrambled back up to my feet, mind racing at this point. That confirmed it – there was a connection between this place and Fazbear Entertainment. What kind I didn't know, but judging by the paper I had from Golden Mile...

I fished it back out of my pocket, laying it out under the light so I could have a closer look to see what it was.

 _Golden Mile Animatronics – Artificial Intelligence Command Interface._

This was a brief schematic of how the AI in Golden Mile's robots had been programmed and coded together. This, combined with the sight of the marionette, told me everything I needed to know. I was on the right track; all that was left was to figure out what this R-A-T thing was...

I was so absorbed in all this information that I almost didn't hear the sound of thumping footsteps outside my door until it was nearly too late. Spinning to my right I saw a glint of glowing eyes – that was all I needed to lunge for the door button, slamming it shut just as Candy tried to reach in and grab me. A quick spin the other way revealed Cindy slowly entering the office.

I wasn't having this, not this late in the night. Back against the closed door, I pulled my pistol and took aim. Cindy seemed a bit confused, but started to lunge for me – just as I put several rounds through her plastic shell and into the 'head' of the endoskeleton beneath. This sent her reeling back, and I slammed the door button on that side as well.

Now in relative safety, I took a breath and shook my head as the information ran through my brain. From here, survival should be a relatively simple task – with just the two of them attacking me, I could keep an eye on where they were and keep up with anything that was going on. Still, I knew the stakes were high. I could feel my reflexes ringing in the same way they had whenever I was on an undercover operation, and I knew it would at least help me keep focused.

Was this what Alex was dealing with for minimum wage, back at the first Fazbear's? I shook my head a little bit, starting to focus. The bots were back to milling around so I opened the doors back up.

And I thought cops were underpaid.

* * *

Like I said, new writing style. I was trying to think of a good way to differentiate from Alex's pulse-pounding action hero brawling and however I wanted to run Adams, and the thought crossed my mind...

"Why not make Adams actually... Play by the rules?"

Seemed like as good an idea as any, so I'm running with this idea that he's better with a gun and stealth instead of beating the crap out of robots with batons and machetes. I'm trying to slow the pace of this story down - FNAF 4 and SL are both much more passive, story-driven experiences so I need to match that in how this story is paced.

So, sadly, you won't see any of the massive action sequences you're used to from my previous few stories. What you will get is a lot more character based investigation and puzzle solving... As well as background and lore.

Also yes, I cut off the first night with Adams in the middle. This is because, as is the case with most FNAF games, the first night is incredibly slow if you know what you're doing and you're not freaking out. Adams isn't freaking out because he's seen all this before, several times now. So instead of buffing the night out with a bunch of filler, I decided to cut it off - basically he survives the night, and we'll pick up on him in his next chapter.

Anyway that's enough out of me. Read and review - hopefully you guys like the new style!


	3. Chapter 2: Alex's Nightmarish Awakening

Well, so far I seem to be staying on schedule with updates! That's good, right? :D

Yeah. Alex's story is gonna be weird to write, and it's gonna be a lot more about Alex Redding the person instead of Alex Redding the robot-smashing ex-cop. After all, the theme of FNAF 4 is 'what had gone on before', so what better time to examine what had happened to Alex to guide him on the path he's been on in life?

Anyway, once more enough blabber from me. On with the show!

* * *

 **Unknown**

 **Alex Redding**

The clock next to my bed was ticking down. It had just hit 2 AM a few moments ago, and I had been jumping from one side of the room to another, trying to make sure neither of the horrors that I'd seen wandering the halls was allowed in, as well as occasionally spinning around and shining the flashlight across my bed to chase the mini-Freddy abominations back off to wherever they'd come from.

I was also fighting a monster headache. Wherever I was, it wasn't exactly constructive to me recuperating from whatever nightmare cocktail Springtrap had pumped through the vents back at Fazbear's Fright. Maybe that's why I was seeing the bots as such horrific nightmare versions? I shook my head. There was more going on here, but I just couldn't figure out what. For now, I had more immediate concerns – namely, my survival. I moved over to the left side of the room, listening for a few seconds before pulling the door closed as I heard the soft breathing. A moment later, the beast stomped back off down the corridor, and I heard something else... Almost like a figure running. I spun around, shining my flashlight –

The closet door shifted, all so subtly. I bolted over, opening the door and shining the light in to see what had-

A nightmarish version of Foxy snapped at my hand, and I slammed the closet door shut before she could try it again. I could feel my heart pounding, blood throbbing in my ears as I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment before slowly opening the closet again and peeking in... Nothing but the Foxy plush.

I had to still be under the effects of that fear gas. That was the only way to explain all this – I'd been knocked unconscious, someone had found me and brought me to their house to fix me up, and now the last of the gas was working its way out of my system.

But that didn't explain the eerie feeling of familiarity I had with this place. I slowly moved my flashlight around the room, wondering if I'd be able to find something that'd clue me in on what was going on here. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small child's phone. I turned, playing the beam of my light over it...

Then it started ringing, nearly flooring me again from the jump. Warily I reached down, my hand wrapping around the receiver; if I was in a nightmare-verse until the gas dissipated, I may as well play along. I brought the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

" _You don't remember..."_

I blinked for a moment. That had just been a whisper, couldn't make out any details about the voice. "Who's there? What do you want?"

 _"You will remember..."_

"Remember what?! I don't understand!" My heart was racing again as I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it, before pulling it back up. "What's going on? Where am I?"

" _They left without him..."_

"Without WHO?!" I shouted into the phone. All I got for my pains was a faint 'click' sound from the receiver. I swore to myself, hanging it up again. That had gotten me precisely bugger-all except more frustration for my efforts, as well as more questions. My mind was playing major tricks on me, I knew that much. Still... That voice sounded familiar.

I had never remembered much beyond around the age of seven – the oldest memory I had was helping my parents unpack in a new house, and being confused about why we had gone there. I'd asked them what they'd known about my younger years, but they always seemed reluctant to talk about it. They'd always just said it was better for me not to know what had happened, and that I should push forward with my own life. That hadn't exactly been constructive to our relationship, and at 21 I'd tried out for the police force in another city and been accepted. The day I moved out I asked them one last time to tell me what had happened...

 _I had just wedged my last suitcase into my old, beat-up car when I heard my mother calling my name. As much as I wanted to just leave, to be rid of them and their lies, I couldn't help myself as I turned to face her._

" _Alex... Please don't go. You can get work here, can't you? I'm sure the station here is-"_

 _I cut her off with a snarl. "That's not what it's about and you know it! I'm sick of the lies, mom. You've been lying to me for fourteen years – it was one thing to 'protect' me when I was younger, but I'm an adult now. I can handle the truth!"_

 _She had come out, and my father as well. I could see the pain in his face, and the tears in her eyes as he spoke. "Son... If we could, we'd tell you. But please, trust us when we say that it'd be a mistake."_

 _I scoffed, turning back around to make sure my things were packed into my car, closing the trunk. "The truth is never a mistake, dad. You taught me that – and now I'm going into a line of work where they'll tell me the truth."_

 _My mother spoke up, tears running down her cheeks. "Alex, please. Why won't you trust us?"_

 _I opened the door to my car, about to just get in and drive away before pausing to look them both in the eyes. "Trust. You're standing there, refusing to tell me about what happened to me, and why I don't remember ANYTHING before we moved here... And you're talking to me about TRUST?!" I shook my head again. "Trust is earned, not given. And the two of you have done everything possible to undermine my trust at every turn! You refuse to tell me what happened, you stop me from doing any research into it, and when I ask why you're keeping me in the dark you can't even give me a real reason why!" I growled at that, staring them both down. "I'm done with the lies. Done with being kept in the dark and just being told to 'trust'." With that, I climbed into my car and started the engine._

 _My father spoke up, and I heard his voice crack – the man I'd believed to be made of iron had just cracked. "Alex... I'm sorry."_

 _I just shook my head, pulling out of the driveway and heading off. 'Apologies don't count for anything when the damage is done.' I thought as I gunned my engine, glancing at my rear view mirror one more time._

 _I saw them standing there, in the cloud of dust my car was kicking up, holding each other and sobbing. And... I felt nothing. No remorse, no anger, not even any justification._

 _Just... Empty._

 _I turned my attention down the road and drove off, not looking back._

I hadn't spoken to them ever since. I'd occasionally gotten letters from them, but at the time I was either too busy with training or too angry still at them for lying to me and I hadn't wanted to speak to either of them. It was only a few years after academy that I'd gotten word – they had both died in a tragic car accident. At that point it all just hit me, and in order to keep myself sane I'd thrown myself deep into the job. Turns out that had been to my benefit, as I was offered a position within the SWAT team.

That had been the start of my career with the police here in town. I'd always wanted to work with cops, but I'd never quite known why – just something about police work seemed to appeal to me. I'd always just chalked it up to wanting the truth over lies, especially after how I'd grown up. But that hadn't ever explained it...

My train of thought was ground to a screeching halt as I heard the buzzing of an alarm clock – it had just clicked to 6 AM. Did all of that really take that long? I shook my head for a moment, deciding now was as good a time as ever to start investigating. If these variants of the Fazbear band were anything like the originals, they were gonna stay out of my way until midnight. Time for me to look around a little bit...

Or so I thought, as I heard a voice whispering behind me. One that sounded strangely familiar, like the one I'd heard on the phone.

" _You know he is hiding again..."_

I spun around, setting my flashlight aside – the light was coming up from outside, and I was able to see a bit more clearly now. "Who's there?!"

" _He won't stop until you find him..."_

"Find who?!" I growled out, looking around the room. "Show yourself!"

Slowly, the door to the side creaked open, almost beckoning me to come out. Hesitantly I left the room, glancing down the hallway. The house was a rather simple place, with a door at the end with a pink flower on it – the other way led to what seemed to be the living room. Slowly I crept down the hallway, my mind racing as I tried to figure out why this entire place was giving me deja vu.

I entered the living room, slowly looking around as I walked across, heading for the front door. I could see light coming from the windows, and I made for the exit...

" _Over there..."_

I spun as soon as I heard that voice –

Just in time for someone in a Foxy head mask to jump out from behind the couch and leap at me, I fell backwards, sprawling out on the floor as I felt darkness closing in around me once again...

My mind was racing, somewhere in that spot where the conscious mind left off and the subconscious took over... And as I wavered in that in-between, I could see a figure. A police officer, one with no face standing next to a man wearing a purple uniform. I could feel something warm and damp on my shirt, and I tried to wipe it off in vain – all it did was spread the warm dampness over me further. I was looking up at them as well, almost child-sized. I didn't know what had happened, where I was, or what they were talking about. All I knew was that I wanted my mom and dad. The officer bent down, gently patting my shoulder and taking my hand, walking with me...

And then it all faded to mist once more, a face faintly taking shape, barely able to get the features of a young boy before it blew away. All I knew for sure was that boy looked disturbingly familiar, and yet I could not place it. I knew I was walking still, but not sure where – I was just moving through the mist. My eyes grew heavy and I yawned, deciding to take a break. I sat back, before laying down on my back in this misty void, closing my eyes...

" _Tomorrow is another day..."_

And with that, my eyes opened and I slowly sat up. I was sitting in a hallway, with two sets of two doorways on either side of me, a white 'X' marked on the floor...

And a plush version of Springtrap, sitting limp on a chair across from me. I nearly jumped as I saw it, before shaking my head slightly. I had a flashlight there as well... Good thing, too – the moon was back out. Had I been knocked unconscious somehow...? I shook my head, trying to think for a moment as I flicked the light off. Whoever that person in the Foxy mask was, it was clear he's no friend of mine.

As I tried to figure out who it may be, I heard faint footsteps in the hall. I grabbed the light, flicking it on –

Just in time to see the doll jump under its own power and duck into one of the doors. My heart raced and I tried to scramble back a few steps before I glanced down, seeing the X on the floor again. It all made sense now – some bizarre version of 'Red Light, Green Light'. I'd have to rely on my hearing for this. If I got him too late, I had no doubt he'd attack me the same as the others had. I flicked the light off, holding my breath and waiting.

I heard the steps slowly thumping closer and closer... My thumb rested on the light switch, ready to flip it on... Closer... I could feel sweat running down my back...

I flipped the light on and the doll went limp, square on the X.

" _Good job..."_

And with that I slowly felt my eyelids growing heavy, falling and collapsing back as I drifted off again, back to the strange dreamscape that had been providing me with even more questions.

I had no idea where I was, what was going on, or who it was that was keeping me here. I'd remembered something about Springtrap having an ally, someone that had helped him to set up Fazbear's Fright. Numbly, I grasped for the memory...

And then it was gone, washed away on a sea of grey mist.

* * *

The plot thickens... Alex still believes he's suffering from the aftershocks of Springtrap's fear gas. And... Truth be told, he's not completely wrong. But that's starting into spoiler territory. :P

Read and review!


	4. Chapter 3: Dark Forgotten Secrets

Well. This chapter was awkward to get uploaded. Explanation time!

So last week I was out with a particularly nasty little bug that just didn't want to go away and left me in absolute refusal to leave my bed, hence the lack of chapter last Sunday. This week I was feeling better...

Unfortunately, my internet was not. I could not beg, bribe, or yell it into allowing me to submit the chapter, so I just said 'screw it' and watched WWE Battleground because I ran out of patience.

Anyway here it is today. I did some adjustments and such to the story after some feedback I've heard, and I'm hoping this is a good one. I'm gonna try and stick with my Sunday upload schedule whenever possible, but if my internet craps out there's really nothing I can do.

Anyway, enough talk from me. On with the show!

* * *

 **Location CBAF**

 **Night 2, 11:50 PM**

 **Joseph Adams**

I was still questioning why I'd come back tonight as I pulled in and entered the decrepit restaurant. The paperwork I'd found had proved to be a valuable lead; as it turned out, the Command Interface schematic had been a prototype. Turns out the old Puppet hadn't always been intended as a remote control device, but they'd never finished the AI for it. That would play into the video I'd found, at least – seems like I may be on to some sort of connection between Candy's and Freddy's, especially considering what the research teams had been able to put together.

As it turns out, Candy's had been in a bit of hot water for attempting to buy Golden Mile's plans under the table. They had been trying to get a copy of the schematics and layouts in order to make their own robots as good as the ones at Freddy's, and had gotten in trouble for it. There had been an attempt at a lawsuit from Fazbear Entertainment, but they'd agreed to settle out of court. This had been one of the death knells for Candy's – without good robotics for their machines they just couldn't compete. Even the multiple incidents with Fazbear Entertainment hadn't been enough to keep them from going under.

It was almost like there was some form of curse surrounding this mess; every time kid's animatronics get involved, it went downhill fast. Especially since there were rumors that Uncanny Valley had covered up an incident of their own, in their factory... Maybe that puppet I saw had something to do with it? It looked like a Golden Mile machine, just in a different shell.

I just shook my head, before stepping into the security office and checking the phone. Sure enough, there was another old recording. Pressing play, I sat back in the chair and started flipping through the cameras.

" _Uh, hello, hello? Uh, see. I told you you'd do just fine. Anyway, I thought I'd mention, uh, we have this little list, of uh... problems... that we have observed of the animatronics over some time._

" _Uh, it's nothing to be concerned about, but the animatronics do have a few... minor... glitches. Yeah. Uh, we're of course trying to get them fixed, but you should know some of them so you don't get, uh.. nervous, if you hear anything. Let me see... um, the animatronics sometimes start to walk around, on their own. Sometimes, in the morning, we find them in the strangest places._

" _Ha ha, so you might see them walking around while you're here. Uh, let me see... Some of their sensors are a bit wonky. Oh, and in case the animatronics are experiencing violence towards a guest, the animatronic will try to seek out the cause and stop it. Yeah, I have no idea how it decides to do that, but it doesn't seem to mind it with the children though. It's weird._

" _If there are children playing cops and robbers and one of them gets shot, you know, the animatronics don't really do anything out of the ordinary. Except... after that day... Uh, the animatronics don't really seem to function properly around adults. Especially not around the staff._

" _Uh, yeah. The animatronics seem to ignore you most of the time, you know, unless you come near them. And they just turn their heads. And look at you. Like if you've just told a bad joke, ha ha... I don't know, it's kinda creepy. Um, but yeah. We kinda had an accident, about a month ago._

" _It seems to have, like, traumatized their systems, or something like that. Uh, anyway, we've replaced the faulty animatronic with some brand new ones. Yeah, so he's stored way in the back until we can get someone to fix him. Anyway, if I were you, I'd keep the other ones at a distance. And uh, use the doors if you have to. That would be it for now. Have a good night."_

I grumbled a few things under my breath. What was it with these places and deadly robots? Anyway for now, I had to think about what my goal was. I needed to check the place out a bit further, see if I could find any kind of documentation. One of the disadvantages of this place having been essentially abandoned and locked down was that there were boxes of paperwork and documents scattered all over the place, so it wasn't easy trying to find the 'smoking guns' so to speak.

I'd brought a few extra things with me tonight from the research team, including an electrified baton. Apparently if I snuck up and took one of the robots unaware, I could use it to shut them down – temporarily, at least. That could buy me some time to search, or bail me out of a jam if things got too crowded. They'd told me I'd have to strike right at the neck joint to get a good jolt into them, so that would make things... Interesting, to say the least.

The clock struck midnight, and I readied my new toy before slipping out the left door and starting to creep my way down the halls. Slowly I heard the stomping sounds from within the main show stage. Candy and Cindy were on the prowl. I got low, keeping close to hiding places as I started searching the area, looking for anything that seemed out of place or interesting.

As I came into the 'secondary party room', I hit paydirt. There were a handful of boxes laying around, and this room seemed out of the way enough to avoid the robots milling around so it's as good a chance as any. Pulling the top box off a pile and flipping it open I set to work, using a small flashlight to examine the contents of the box. Mostly just financial documents, paperwork, pay stubs and the like – nothing seemed exceptionally incriminating.

The second box was the same sort of thing, except this time it seemed like mostly papers on the building. I paused for a moment as I saw one bit of paperwork, giving it a closer look. It was a high priced cleaning bill... Directed from Uncanny Valley. That was strange, why would they be billing Candy's for their cleaning?

The plot thickened as I examined the papers, realizing that the cleaning company sounded familiar. Very familiar in fact... And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The company listed was the same one that Fazbear Entertainment had a contract with. The same company that I'd headed an investigation of after the Drone Incident, finding that they weren't above hiding bodies and making murder victims go away. And Uncanny Valley had hired them, and sent the bill to Candy's... And the date was just a bit after the lawsuit from Fazbear's had come and gone. I didn't like that timing.

I was so busy examining these files that I almost didn't hear a faint clunking and whirring sound from behind me. I scrambled up to my feet and killed my light just in time to see the curtains in the corner rustling a bit. Mentally I swore – I'd forgotten that there were other robots around! I tucked the paper in my pocket and tried to hide behind a few of the boxes, keeping myself low to the ground and as far out of sight as I could.

Slowly the curtains parted, and a robotic monkey poked his head out. That was Chester, if I remembered correctly – a musical performing robot monkey with a banjo. That was a new one to me... I kept my head down as he slowly thumped to the ground and began wandering around the room, glancing down the hallway towards the front office. I needed him gone, especially since I'd just stumbled across something big.

I grabbed the electric baton from my belt, making sure it was live. Time to try my new toy...

Chester had turned his back to my position, looking like he was about to head down the hall towards the office. No sign of Candy or Cindy. Time to make my move. Slowly I crept out of my hiding spot, sneaking up behind him...

I kicked a half-empty box accidentally, causing it to scrape and slide along the floor. Chester paused, began to turn – and I lunged, pressing the baton into his neck joint. He stiffened, trembled... Before going limp on his feet, the lights in his eyes dimming out. Looks like that worked. I smiled to myself, disabling the baton and putting it back in my belt. That was going to be useful, for sure – I just had to hope that he stayed down long enough for me to check over some of these other boxes.

A third box was pulled, and I continued my search. Now I had a few ideas on what to look for – things connecting Uncanny Valley with Fazbear Entertainment. A few minutes of digging later I found something; an invoice for a finder's fee, billed to Fazbear's. I started examining it a bit more closely.

This was paydirt for sure. Turns out that Fazbear's had given Uncanny Valley a payout for locating a missing Golden Mile endoskeleton from one of their locations. There was no explicit statement of where they'd found it, but I had my suspicions about where it had come from... Especially since it already seemed like Candy's wanted to find Golden Mile endos for their own purposes. And from the footage I'd seen, they'd gotten more than they'd bargained for.

Slowly the beginnings of a timeline were starting to form in my head. Candy's illicitly acquires an experimental Golden Mile endoskeleton and AI program. They bring it to Uncanny Valley to try and take it apart, figure out how it works for their own purposes. Something bad happens that requires them to hire the shady cleaning company. They get them in, call Fazbear's, arrange to be paid to give them the animatronic back, and then Fazbear's sues Candy's for stealing one of their robots... Maybe the reason Fazbear's agreed to settle was because Candy's blackmailed them with proof of their robot's danger?

I heard a stirring and whirring sound from behind me and quickly pocketed the paperwork I'd found. Sounds like Chester was waking up, and I didn't want to risk giving him a second dose of voltage. Time for me to make my way back to the office. I cut back around through the main party room... Just in time to see Candy standing in the doorway I had to get through... And he was slowly turning around to face towards me. Quickly I ducked underneath one, taking cover and holding my breath as he began looking around the room... Just as Chester also entered the room. I winced, wondering if they were going to try and communicate...

Nothing. Chester blankly walked past Candy, who didn't even seem to acknowledge his existence. Did they even recognize each other? Was there any form of sentience to them at all? There had to be at least some level that told them 'you are not enemies' because they didn't immediately attack each other...

I shook my head a bit. Candy was still standing in that doorway, and Chester had wandered off at this point. I needed to distract the cat so I could keep making my way towards the office... Glancing around, I saw a box of abandoned party favors. Reaching over I grabbed a yo-yo from inside it, flinging it down the hall and away from where I was hiding, where it clattered to a stop. Candy stood at attention, starting to head towards the source of the noise.

I didn't bother sticking around to see how long the distraction lasted. I slipped out of my hiding place, ducking down a side hall and quickly making it back to the office. Luckily it seemed like Cindy had returned to her show stage, and Chester had wandered back towards his own little stage, so I could get myself comfortable and start glancing over the cameras as my mind raced.

For now, there were other video files on that PC that I had to check out – and considering that the time was still ticking down towards 6 AM, now was as good a time as any. Quickly locking down the doors to make sure I wasn't taken unawares again, I booted the PC up and started glancing through them. Sure enough, there was one dated for the day after the last one. I clicked it and the video began to play...

Or it would, but all I saw was static and " **ERROR 6F4A95: NO VIDEO INPUT."** Great. So the camera was broken, but I could still hear... A girl giggling? And those noises... This was the same place as the last video, but those were the sounds of the machinery running...

Another burst of static, and the camera cleared... And the view I had was more than a little bit terrifying. There was blood coating the conveyors around a few animatronic parts. The place looked like a horrific murder had happened... But there was no body. The implications there were... Disturbing, to say the least. Especially since I remembered the Drone Incident's 'processing' system.

I glanced at the clock – time was at least passing at a steady rate, didn't have much longer to stay here. This was good, considering now I had more than a few leads... But I still didn't know what this R-A-T was, and how this place was connected to Fazbear's.

The plot was thickening fast, though. I knew that I was being led to something big.

* * *

Intrigue! Plot! Mystery! Other words! Things are getting interesting for Adams - he's starting to see the threads connecting.

Read and review!


	5. Chapter 4: Shadows of the Past

Hey, got the update out on time tonight! More adventures in Alex's subconscious and nightmares this time, as well as more background and story about what came before.

I also cut out a lot of the 'gameplay' section, just because... Truth be told, someone running back and forth with a flashlight gets boring - fast. I've established the 'rules of the game' already, so it's time to do exposition and actual plot instead of going through every night's actual meat.

Not too much to say tonight beyond that, so... On with the show!

* * *

 **Unknown**

 **Alex Redding**

 **Night 2**

My headache had yet to lay off as my eyes slowly opened again... And I found myself once more laying on the floor of the child's bedroom. Last thing I'd remembered was being in that hall with the Plush-trap thing... I decided not to ask. Right now my mind was boggled enough already just by how confusing everything had become. Something about this place simply made no sense, especially considering how infernally familiar everything felt.

The toy phone rang again. Guess that fear toxin was still pumping... I picked up the receiver. "Alright, answer time. What the heck is going on? Where am I?!"

There was nothing, then that voice again. "...You have until 2..." And then a click on the line. I brought the receiver down, staring at it for a moment before shaking my head. Until 2...? Absently I looked around the room. The clock had just hit 12 AM...

Wait a minute. Until 2. Maybe I had until 2 AM before something happened? I just shook my head, glancing over towards the hallways. I slowly peeked out, ready to slam the door shut... And that's when I realized that the light at the far end of the hallway was on. The place was still gloomy and dark, but at least it wasn't completely pitch black. Maybe that's what it meant – that I had until 2 AM to explore. It was as good as any other explanation, and I didn't exactly have any better ideas. Flashlight in hand, I began moving down the hallway.

There were a few photos hanging on the wall, but as I turned my light on them to give them a closer look it almost seemed like the faces blurred, ran together. I couldn't make sense out of it. I pressed on, moving slowly and cautiously down the halls as I searched the rooms. Rounding the corner I turned, finding myself standing in the kitchen of the house. It was rather modest in size, a decent family kitchen. Something about it was buzzing in the back of my head, though – and I could faintly smell something like... Cookies?

The smell faded a moment later, replaced by a greasy, oily, burning odor. I coughed slightly, making a face as I turned my flashlight towards the oven. As the beam struck it, flames burst from the stove on top and began licking at the cupboards above! I stumbled backwards, immediately searching somewhere, anywhere for something I could use to try and keep the place from burning down! I spun, staggering backwards as my light turned towards the dining room table...

And there was a figure, sitting at the table, laying forwards on it limply. I focused my light on it for a moment. It looked almost... Mechanical. Like a robot that had been burned. Almost like...

Almost like what had happened to Chica, when her restaurant had burnt down.

Immediately my headache had come back with a vengeance, throbbing and pounding in my skull as I stumbled and staggered, turning to face the fire coming from the stove again.

Nothing. It didn't even feel warm from where I was standing. My mind was toying with me again, dredging up old tragic memories from what had brought me to this point in time. Mentally I cursed Springtrap once more; if it hadn't been for him, none of this would have happened. With a sigh, rubbing my forehead with one hand, I headed off down another corridor. I paused to check the clock on the wall: not even half an hour had passed. Slow, and yet at the same time it felt like time was passing even faster than it should. I soldiered on, finding my way out to what seemed to be a living room. Chairs, couches, even a TV sitting next to one wall, with a coffee table in the center of the room.

There seemed to be something sitting on top of it, almost in the shape of a book. I approached it, deciding to investigate further. As it turned out, it was a video tape – a movie, looking like one of those police action movies that I'd taken a liking to while I was growing up. I'd always attributed part of why I was attracted to police work to my fascination with those movies; even though part of me knew it wasn't real, I had always had an interest in wearing a uniform and badge. And yet somehow, it almost felt like there was a reason why I was so interested in those films...

I just shrugged, picking up the tape. All this thinking had made me start to remember when I had started at the police academy...

 _I had only been here for around two weeks and already I was jumping between loving it and hating it. I loved the instructions and classes that I was getting, and didn't mind the physical training either – I'd been a fairly athletic kid growing up, so it wasn't too big of a deal and I was taking to their personal defense courses like a duck to water._

 _No, when I started hating it was whenever I had to go to the gun range. For some reason, I just did not get it. Every shot was off – too low, too high, to the side... Handguns and I just were not getting along that well. I could tell that my instructors were losing their patience to boot. I did not want to get kicked out of training; if I did, I'd have to go back home and that was simply not an option to me. Not after the way my parents and I split._

 _It was range day once more, and I was mentally groaning. I knew what I was in for once again... And then one of the instructors tapped me. "Redding, you're going to be working with another trainee today. It's clear that you're not listening to me, so maybe you'll listen to someone on your level." His voice was firm; this wasn't an option. I found myself standing next to another recruit, who was double-checking his handgun over._

 _He looked up as I approached. "You must be Redding. I've been told that I'm the last hope you've got of learning how to shoot straight, right?"_

 _I just nodded. "Apparently I'm better at fighting with my hands than I am with a gun, so that's the long and short."_

 _He laughed softly. "Opposite of me, then. Alright. Tell you what, how about you load up your pistol and get into a firing stance, and I'll try to correct you as best I can. That sound fair?"_

 _I nodded once more, picking the pistol up and locking a magazine in. Cocking the action I stood, taking aim –_

 _He immediately rested a hand on my shoulder. "...I see now why you're having so much trouble. To put it bluntly, Redding? Your grip sucks."_

 _I just rolled my eyes. "I can see the sights properly, and I've got them in line. What does it matter how I hold the gun?"_

 _That got a bit of a glare from him. "I grew up shooting, Redding. Trust me on this, your grip matters. Alright, let's go step by step..." He adjusted how I grabbed the pistol, how my finger rested on the trigger, and let me fire a few rounds. After boxing my ears a bit about squeezing the trigger instead of jerking it, he finally took his own pistol and told me to watch him. I did so, taking careful mental notes of his stance, grip, and how he lined everything up. He put a few more rounds downrange and told me to try it._

 _Four shots later, the instructor told us to set our pistols down at last. As he inspected my target, he had to nod. "Impressive, Redding. Looks like you listened after all. I'm gonna have you work with this trainee going forward – clearly he can teach you in a way you'll listen to." With that, he moved off._

 _I approached the trainee – my new handgun mentor – and shook his hand. "Hey, so you know my name, but what's yours?"_

 _He laughed softly, nodding. "Adams. Joseph Adams."_

That was when I met my best friend, the day he taught me to shoot like a professional instead of an idiot. From there our roads had stuck together through academy, and even during our times as beat cops. Even though we took different roads for our specializations, we'd kept in touch... Well, as best a SWAT Team officer and an undercover cop could.

I shook my head as I glanced up at the clock. 1:30 AM – time for me to start heading back to the room and getting ready for the party. I hadn't uncovered much of anything, and I swore to myself as I realized that. It was going to be a long night, and I hadn't figured anything out. I just had to hope for a second chance.

I made it back to the child's bedroom, checked everything over, and the clock struck 2 AM... Immediately I started hearing the shuffling and movement in the hallways.

Time to party.

 **Four hours later...**

I flopped against the bed, breathing heavily. Tonight they'd gotten a bit more active and aggressive – a few times they'd nearly had me, but I'd managed to catch myself just in time to slam the door in their faces. It had been close, but I'd survived once more. I thanked my lucky stars that several rounds of dealing with malevolent robots had gotten my reflexes trained, before shaking my head a bit. Time to focus.

Or so I thought, as the voice from last night whispered – this time outside one of the doors.

" _He left without you..."_

I growled, starting towards the door as the whispers continued.

" _He knows that you hate it here... You are right besides the exit..."_

An exit! That's all the motivation I needed to charge through the door as the voice continued its soft whispers.

" _If you run, you can make it. Hurry, run toward the exit..."_

I didn't need any more encouragement. I barreled out the door...

And found myself standing in what looked like an old Fazbear Entertainment party room. I spun around, trying to find the door back to where I'd come in – nothing. What was going on?!

This place wasn't like any of the Freddy's establishments I'd ever seen. It was old, ancient even – the only animatronics it seemed to show were... I froze as I saw the drawings on the wall.

The only ones there were Golden Freddy and a no longer beat up Springtrap. This had just gotten even more bizarre – was this one of the locations before they'd gone downhill? If it was, then why was it still operational?!

" _It's too late..."_

I turned, whirling at the voice as I looked towards a doorway with an 'EXIT' sign hanging above it. There was a figure standing there, as if to block the way out. As soon as I saw it, I felt a chilly trickle of fear entering my veins... I stumbled back, trying to get away from it as fast as I possibly could.

" _Hurry... The other way! Find someone who will help... You know what happens if he catches you..."_

I didn't know, but I didn't need any other reasons to stay away. I stumbled into one of the other party rooms, glancing over my shoulder briefly as I did.

I saw a pair of figures through a crack in what seemed to be an ajar Employees Only door. One, dressed in a purple uniform, was putting a mask on another. I made a mental note of it, seeming somehow familiar as I ran into the other party room.

" _You can get help if you can get past them..."_

The 'them' in this case seemed to be the animatronics on the stage. I glanced to the side of the room and saw a silhouetted figure once more – the same one that I'd vaguely seen the night before. I still couldn't make out anything other than the fact that he appeared to be wearing a police uniform. Nearby, under one of the tables...

" _You have to be strong..."_

I froze up. It was a child. And one that the back of my mind was screaming at me that I knew somehow. I wracked my brain trying to think, trying to figure out where I had seen him before...

The grey mist was swimming in my vision, and I knew I didn't have long before I blacked out again. Just before the fog took me, I could hear that whispered voice once more, echoing as it brought me back into darkness.

" _Tomorrow is another day..."_

By the time I awoke, I was sitting back at the house, in the same hallway as Plushtrap once more. I flicked my light off, having become wise to the game. I kept one ear out, waiting for him to approach as I tried to wrack my brain. Who was that cop-figure? And the kid? And why was all of this so infernally familiar to me?!

I was so busy trying to figure out why everything – the house, the cop, the kid – seemed to be familiar in a bizarre way that I nearly missed my chance. Quickly I hit my flashlight, and Plushtrap dropped right on the taped off X.

" _Good Job..."_

I figured this was gonna give me another two hour opening tomorrow night, and I was about to be proven right as the fog moved over my mind once more.

Whatever this mystery was, I had a feeling it was going to change everything...

* * *

I really hope I'm not being too heavy handed with the buildup for this story. XD

Anyway! Read and review!


	6. Chapter 5: Something Old, Something New

And we're back with Joseph Adams once more, going into Night 3 of Candy's! This one should be a bit more interesting, especially towards the end. He's slowly starting to put the pieces together, and soon he's gonna have... Well, most of the completed picture.

Not really much to say this time, so on with the show!

* * *

 **Location CBAF**

 **Night 3, 11:50 PM**

 **Joseph Adams**

Another night at this place. I'd been finding more bits and pieces doing research on my own, and the paperwork I'd found last night had led me on an interesting track. Apparently Uncanny Valley had nearly been forced to shut down when the employees started mass reporting unsafe working conditions. From what the reports had said, employees had reported a secret project as being a danger and hazard to working conditions, saying that whatever it was had been messing with their workstations and endangering them on a regular basis.

Uncanny Valley managed to make it go away eventually by releasing a public statement that they'd scrapped their project, not going into any details as to what it was in the first place. Judging by the paperwork I'd found, I had my suspicions as to what that project was... Regardless, that seemed to have been enough and the entire mess went away. Though the lawsuit and issues with Fazbear Entertainment shortly afterwards had also made things rough for them, I would say that was the beginning of the end.

I'd also traced the history of that down. Turns out, Uncanny Valley was still operational... At least, slightly so. They had moved to strictly working with small-scale robotics and machines, having all but dropped the animatronics business – which I couldn't blame them for, considering recent events. I'd done some digging to try and figure out what had happened. As it turned out, the lawsuit that had caused so much trouble had ended up changing hands repeatedly – at first it was Golden Mile vs Uncanny Valley over the theft of one of their animatronic endoskeletons, then it became Fazbear Entertainment vs Uncanny Valley when it turned out that it was a Fazbear endoskeleton, then it took its final form as Fazbear Entertainment vs Candy's.

That had been the suit that had shuttered Candy's for good. Without the Fazbear Entertainment robots, even settling out of court wasn't going to keep them from going under. The bad publicity of it all had driven away their last few customers, and now they had completely gone downhill. The worst part was that the CEO at the time firmly believed that they would rally and come out on top. Apparently he was pretty much completely delusional...

I shook my head as I entered the front office once more, the clock ticking away towards midnight. Time for another day here... I had a simple goal, this time – I needed to see if there was anything about the Candy's higher-ups, see if there had been any official word about the incidents. If the crooked cleaners had been on hand to clean up the 'unsafe work environment' the employees had reported, that would be a clear smoking gun – one that may actually point me towards the R-A-T, and even more importantly... Towards the other Fazbear Endoskeletons that Faz had mentioned when he first gave me that message.

The phone went off and I glanced over, ready for whatever else I could learn.

" _Uh, hello? Looks like you're doing a fine job! I mean, you're still here. Ha ha. Uh, you're already like, practically as good as the last night guard we had. Except of course, he got fired in the end. Yeah. He uh, he kinda damaged one of the animatronics during his shift. I mean, you wouldn't do that, would you? No way. Um, I guess he went a little... crazy. You know, being alone in the dark each night. Uh, you know that character that the kids can draw on...? Uh, Blank...? I think? Yeah, I always liked that one. It's a brilliant concept._

" _Yeah, his suit is made out of some special plastic stuff I think, that the kids can come in and you know, grab a crayon and start drawing on his head or his arms, uh, some of the others here think he looks a bit scary, after the whole security guard thing. We tried our best to fix him, but... uh, parts like his left hand and the back of his head are still missing. But the kids don't seem to really mind it, you know, so it's not a major issue. Um, yeah. From what we can tell, his head got a real beating. So he might act a little... strange._

" _Um, like, he sometimes tried to get in the office, through the window. And he even managed to crack the glass, slightly, once. Yeah. If he leaves the Drawing Room, just shut the window doors so he doesn't break the glass. Those old ones couldn't see glass very well. Um, by the way, we're expecting more customers over the course of the next days, so next week we may need you on the day shift too, if you're up for it. Um, well anyway, have a good night."_

Well. That sounded unpleasant. I had to wonder when all of these had been recorded... For now the clock struck midnight and I went to work. My first priority was to shut the front window's shutter – if this 'Blank' animatronic decided to smash the window, it'd probably get the entirety of the place awake and on high alert. That would be a quick and unpleasant end to my investigations. With that done, I started to explore.

Candy and Cindy were already on patrol, stomping and thumping their way around and through the hallways. At this point I was getting used to their patterns and how they moved, and I could quickly and silently duck from hiding spot to hiding spot – from underneath tables, to behind piles of boxes, and even ducking around next to Chester's stage when he stuck his head out. The kind of papers I'd need to be looking for wouldn't be out here in the open, though – I'd have to head for somewhere they'd be more secure. Parts and Service seemed like the best option.

I was reaching for the door when I heard the knob turning. Was there something in there?! I quickly ducked behind it, grabbing the electrified baton and standing ready to knock whatever it was out...

An animatronic penguin waddled his way out of the Parts and Service room, looking around for a moment before slowly waddling his way down the hall, seemingly on a direct route to the office that I used as my hideout in between outings. I shrugged it off – he didn't seem large enough to cause me any major issues, though something about him bugged me. I remembered Alex telling me that the Balloon Boy in the second Fazbear's location he'd dealt with had given him just this feeling of inherent rage...

I shook it off. Couldn't spend time thinking about that for now, if the penguin was an issue I'd deal with him – though how I planned to do that was in question, considering he didn't seem to have an exposed neck joint for me to jolt. Regardless, he had gone off to do his own thing and that gave me the time and opportunity to slip into the Parts and Service room and start looking around.

I hadn't been able to dig anything up last time, but this time I was looking a bit more focused – paperwork from the bosses would be locked up and stashed away, and I needed to see if there was anything here that would be a good place to hide it. I'd half expected a floor safe, or even a lockbox with some kind of padlock on it.

What I didn't expect was for a clock on the wall to shift to one side, revealing a keypad-locked wall safe. What's worse, I recognized the brand – these were solid, rugged items built to withstand any kind of safecracking efforts. And because it was mounted into the wall, it wasn't going anywhere – I'd have to find the combination in order to get in and actually rummage around.

So. New plan. Find the combination to the safe, get the safe open, see if it had anything talking about the Uncanny Valley incident or the R-A-T... Or the Fazbear endoskeletons that I'd seen talked about so much. Time to go snooping, some kind of paperwork around here would have to have the combination written on it...

I had only just begun to snoop around, stooping down and looking under the workbench, when I heard a whirring, mechanical sound – almost like a broken-down machine. I froze up, glancing upwards...

There was a large, old-looking, worn down and halfway faded animatronic cat standing in the room that I hadn't seen before. It looked ragged, almost as if it had been abused for a long time before being put here... And it also almost looked like it was softer, instead of the hard plastic shells of the others.

And it was looking directly at me.

I'd like to say that it was steely determination that made me not cry out in shock, but the truth was I was so petrified as I stared up at the thing that I didn't even have the ability to make a sound. I looked up at it, positive that it was going to reach down, snap my neck, crush my skull...

It stared at me for a moment more, before wordlessly stomping out of Parts and Service and back down the hallway. To say I was confused would be an understatement; I thought that thing would have absolutely destroyed me... And then I remembered. Last night's call had mentioned that one of the animatronics had been 'traumatized' by something. That must have been the one. And to top it off, its eyes hadn't been glowing in the same way that I'd seen from the others. Its vision was compromised, it had to be – that's the only reason it didn't see me.

Letting out a shaky breath I didn't realize I was holding, I went back to my search. I was trying to find something, anything that would give me a clue to the combination of that safe, but nothing. Annoyed, I absently checked inside one of the desk's drawers... And there it was. A torn piece of paper.

It was another old note, looking to have been hand-written and then torn in half. I took a closer glimpse, trying to make out the faded text.

" _-51. Don't let anyone know you have this! The bosses want-_

" _-say none of that. People died, and they just want it swept-_

" _-proof is in that safe. I'm trusting you to get this to the news-_

" _-to me. Stay safe."_

Well, that wasn't suspicious at all. Regardless, it was pretty clear I had the second half of the combination to the safe. Now the hard part was to find the first half – knowing my luck, that thing would have a failsafe in case someone tried to brute-force the combination. I pocketed the note, deciding to have a look around later. For now, it was time for me to start heading back towards the office; it was getting later into the night, and I was going to have to be ready... Plus, I wanted to take another look through the video files, see if there was anything else I could dig up.

Keeping my head down and waiting for the coast to be clear gave me the opportunity to see the Blank animatronic in action. It stared at the shuttered window for a moment, before hauling one arm back and slamming it in with a loud THUNK. I winced a bit – if that shutter hadn't been reinforcing the glass, it would have shattered for sure... And judging by how the lights from the office seemed to flicker from the impact, it would've plunged me into darkness as well. I would have been a sitting duck. I slipped into the office, feeling a bit more comfortable...

And then I saw it. That little penguin animatronic, sitting below my desk. I glared at it for a moment, watching to see if it would do anything... But it didn't seem to move. All it did was stare up at me with those glowing eyes. I sneered at it, before taking a seat and opening up the computer terminal once more – making sure to close the doors to the sides as I did so. I began sifting through the files, trying to find another video worth viewing and examining.

After a moment, I hit paydirt. It was the conveyor scene once more, except this time instead of the blood and robotic parts laying around... It was clear the police had been through. Evidence markers dotted the area, and police tape was hanging from above. Slowly the camera scrolled back and forth, taking in the entire scene... Then I saw it. That marionette, standing there in the shadows, his head twitching back and forth like a maniac. It seemed to be staring at the crime scene...

The camera panned back and forth, and then I nearly fell out of my seat – the thing was in the camera, staring directly at it. Almost as if it knew that someone was watching... The camera panned back away again, and the feed cut back to static.

Something about this just didn't make any sense... What was that thing? Was it tied to Fazbear's somehow? I shook my head – it was quite likely that it was the stolen prototype that had caused so many issues for Uncanny Valley and Candy's. That would make sense, at least... But if that was the case, then it was recovered. So why was I here, looking for a lead on replacement Golden Mile animatronics?

My thought process was cut off by a robotic voice from below the desk. _"May I take your order?"_ I glanced down in surprise... Just as both doors opened up and I saw flickering eyes outside the right-hand side. I swore, not even bothering to fumble around with my baton as Candy came stomping into the room. Moving quickly I planted a kick to his midsection, giving me some room to breathe as I backed up –

Right into the form of the old, broken-down Candy animatronic. I knew it wouldn't be able to miss me bumping into it so I quickly dove down, barely managing to avoid getting grabbed as I finally grasped my stun baton. I rushed into Candy, who grabbed me and leaned forward, opening his mouth and revealing some sharp, wicked-looking teeth.

I decided I didn't feel like getting my face chewed off so I quickly brought the baton up and jammed it into the neck socket. Candy let out a shocked, distorted cry as the voltage pumped through his endoskeleton, before falling backwards and out the door. One down, time to deal with the other one...

And just in time I managed to duck a swipe it took at me. I dodged around, and then an idea struck me as I glanced over to the penguin. It was a short little bugger, and clearly it was messing around with something under there – I hadn't opened the doors, and I still had plenty of power when they opened. I froze up, staying quiet as I moved away from where the retired machine had last heard me. It glanced around in confusion, and I could see its ears twitching and rotating to try and figure out where I had gone.

Now was as good a chance as any. I grabbed the penguin and tossed it out the left side door and down the hall. It landed with an audible CRASH – I'd inadvertently tossed it right into Chester, bowling them both down. The Old bot stood at attention before rushing off down the hall to see where the noise had come from and I immediately locked both doors down. Once again, I was safe.

Minutes and hours ticked by, and finally 6 AM hit once more. The animatronics all reverted to their original positions and I headed out, leaving the abandoned restaurant once more with new information at my disposal. I needed to find the other half of the safe combination and get it open, see if I could figure out what was going on here... While also dealing with an increasing – and increasingly difficult – group of murderous machines.

I swore softly to myself, shaking my head. I had never much liked penguins.

* * *

Y'know, it's kinda funny. During the big 'penguin movie' rush (Surf's Up, March of the Penguins, etc) I had to ask - what's with all these little suit-clad birds showing up? Much like Adams, I was never really into the whole 'craze'. Ah well, to each their own.

Hope y'all liked the little action spot - it's not easy to do them at the moment, considering how linear and story-driven FNAF 4 is plus how I'm trying to differentiate Adams from Redding. Still, I feel like I did a decent job at this one.

Anyway, nothing really to say. Read and review!


	7. Chapter 6: More Questions than Answers

Well here we are again. This time with more of Alex's adventures. I made a little reference to something one of my reviews mentioned regarding how Alex seemed to be acclimating to everything that's going on so easily. Even though I have my reasons for doing so, I figured it would actually make sense for him to question it for a moment so I added that little point.

Also we get a bit more of Alex's history, and a super-brief scene of him in action. Yaaay!

Anyway I don't have much else to say - we're past the halfway point, Night 3 for both of our heroes is a wrap. Things are only gonna go downhill from here.

On with the show!

* * *

 **Unknown**

 **Alex Redding**

 **Night 3**

I slowly came back into focus once more. This was starting to get old fast... I got back to my feet and looked around – sure enough I was back in the child's bedroom. At this point a lot of what was going on just didn't make sense. It also didn't help ease the splitting headache pounding in my skull, which felt like it was getting worse at this point.

The toy phone range and I growled, picking it up and beginning to speak immediately. "Alright, enough of the riddles. This time you're going to give me some answers!"

Nothing but silence for a moment, then... "The answers are there..."

This was getting on my nerves significantly now. "What are you talking about?! I've been hunting for answers for two nights now and I still haven't figured anything out!"

Another brief moment. "Some things are better left forgotten... For now..." And then a click. With an angry yell I threw the phone across the room, watching it bounce harmlessly off the wall.

I was shaking with frustration at this point. Why couldn't I get a straight answer through all this cryptic crap? 'The answers are there'... I shook my head a bit. There were way too many mysteries here. Including some I haven't even bothered trying to address yet.

For example, how was it I was able to pick up on the rules of 'the game' so quickly and able to survive? Back at the original Freddy Fazbear's it had taken me a few near-misses just to learn the patterns and how the 'game' worked. It had nearly cost me my life a few times, especially when Freddy himself had started interjecting himself into the game. I'd always prided myself on being a quick study, but this was unusual. From knowing that I had to slam the door in the face of the ones to the sides and in my closet – and I still had no clue how the nightmarish 'Foxy' got in there – to picking up on the miniature Freddys, and even catching on to Plushtrap's nerve-wracking game of Red Light, Green Light, I'd learned quickly and was now rolling through nights like I almost knew what I was doing.

Something about this didn't make sense. And yet at the same time, it was almost as if someone or something had told me just what to do, and how to do it in order to survive... Almost in the same way that the phone had given me those cryptic hints that I knew meant SOMETHING, I just didn't know what. It was like...

I shook my head again. All this was getting me was wasted time that I should be using to investigate and even more of a splitting headache. I had work to do, and only two hours to do it in. Time to head out. Grabbing my flashlight, I started out down another hall. There had to be something around here to tip me off to what was going on. I continued along, seeing more family photographs – once more I could feel that faint buzzing of deja vu, almost like I should know who they were.

I paused as I heard the faint rustles of movement behind one door. I slowly opened it and shone my light inside. It seemed like a master bedroom – fairly close to the child's bedroom which made sense. I slowly walked in, looking around to see if I could figure out where the movement was coming from. The bed was unkempt, clearly someone had been using it – I couldn't see anyone in it at first though, my light shining across the room. I kept looking around, before hearing water running behind another door. An attached bathroom? I made a small note that this place was pretty nice, before opening the door.

The sink was running, and the light over it was on. Someone had to have turned it on, so I knew there had to have been somebody in here. Maybe I'd just missed them? But if I did, I would've seen them in the hallway... Something didn't seem right about this. I turned the sink off and stepped back into the bedroom, bringing my light up for one final look around –

And now the bed was occupied by a VERY sickly looking, faded, ragged and torn up Bonnie Bunny, with Freddy Fazbear himself sitting in the chair next to her. He seemed to be almost comforting her as she lay there motionless. The instant my beam hit them, they immediately both turned to face me, eyes completely black – the way Golden Freddy's were. I stumbled backwards and dropped my light, plunging the room back into darkness.

By the time I got my light back up and shone it on them, they were gone again. More hallucinations – how long would it take for that fear gas to work its way out of me?! I shook my head and got ready to leave, but before I did I saw something shine, catching my light's beam. Curiously I approached again, coming up to the side of the bed and examining the object.

It was a police badge. In fact, it looked almost like my old badge from back when I was with the SWAT Team... That made me remember my time there, and how I'd ended up on the team in the first place...

 _It had been a few years since I got my badge and became a full-fledged police officer. I had mostly been floating back and forth at this point, unsure where I really wanted to go from here – I was content being a beat cop, but Adams had been encouraging me to specialize in some way. He'd told me that the specializations were where the real money was – he'd started already, looking into investigative work. I'd wished him the best of luck, but for now I was happy where I was._

 _On that day I had been out on a simple patrol, and gotten a call for a domestic dispute. I'd already been dreading it when I headed for the location – domestics never ended well for anyone, least of all the officer that just wanted to make sure everyone got through the night in one piece and uninjured. I shook my head and came around, parking my car out front. I had just gotten ready to get out of my cruiser when everything went downhill._

 _Next thing I knew I was diving for cover outside my car as bullets hailed down at me. Luckily my partner and I had managed to keep our heads down, but there was so much screaming and yelling from inside that I had the feeling this wasn't going to end well. My partner was already radioing for backup, trying to get us some support. I had this feeling we may not be able to make it out of this one..._

 _My head suddenly cleared as I glanced up and saw two kids – neither older than 10, it looked like – banging on an upstairs window while the first floor was still a hailstorm of lead. This seemed to be enough to get me off my rear and glancing over to my partner. Backup was too far out, by the time they got here this situation was going to be going downhill. I gestured for him to give me some cover, and we opened up with our handguns, forcing whoever it was shooting back away. This was the opening I needed, and I sprinted out from around the cruiser and ran along to the side of the house._

 _I was out of the open and had a moment to figure out what my plan was – all I knew for sure was that I had to act fast if I was going to save my partner and those kids upstairs. I pulled the baton from where it was hanging at my side; if I was going to do this, I'd need to get in close. The shooter was using a rifle of some kind, and they didn't work too well when someone was bludgeoning you up close and personal. I glanced in a side window; the shooter was a male, and he looked livid about something as he struggled to reload his weapon. It was now or never, I needed the element of surprise. I took a deep breath, mentally counted down from three..._

 _And dove in the window, rolling to keep myself from getting too cut up on the glass. The shooter immediately spun, still struggling to get the magazine in his gun as I came in and solved the problem with a well-placed hit from my baton that sent him sprawling on the ground. A knee to the lower back and my handcuffs out, and it was all over._

 _As it turned out in the aftermath, the guy had caught his wife with another man a few times before. She'd been cheating on him, and because of a sob story with the courts she ended up with full custody over the kids – not like it meant much, considering it turned out that she'd spent that day out partying; when she got back we'd found her loaded down with drugs and arrested her as well. I'd taken special care to make sure the kids were calmed down, and had chased up every lead for the foster homes to make sure they were taken care of in the aftermath._

 _It was roughly a month later when I found myself talking to the current SWAT team leader. He'd heard about what I'd done, realized how much guts it took to do something like that, and decided he wanted to see if I was interested in specializing there. It had taken me some time to think about it, but at the end I agreed._

That, in my opinion, had been where my life's path had diverted forever and taken me down the road to where I was now. I'd joined the SWAT team, and from there had become the leader, ended up resigning after a situation went tragically wrong, and finally taken a job with Freddy Fazbear's.

I glanced up – 1:45 AM this time. I had been cutting it close. Time to head back to the room and get ready. Just because I was still lost and confused didn't mean I could let my guard down...

 **Four Hours Later...**

I slammed the final door shut and heard the last of the animatronic attackers wandering off as the alarm went off and let out another sigh of relief. They'd really stepped up their game tonight – things were getting tense, fast. I just hoped I could get out of here soon...

" _He hates you..."_

I stood at attention to that. It sounded like it had come out of the door I'd just shut.

" _You have to get up. You can get out this time, but you have to hurry..."_

That was all the encouragement I needed to rush right back out the door –

And into the strange 'old' Freddy's once more, letting out an angry groan as I looked around... Then my eyes widened as I saw that faint, almost shimmering silhouette of a child walking out the no longer guarded front door. The logical part of my brain was saying to stick around, investigate, see what I could figure out, but another part just compelled me to follow him. So, unwillingly, I did.

I wasn't even sure where we were going at this point. I kept back far enough that he wouldn't see me, but close enough that I wouldn't lose sight of him. He seemed to pause for a moment before glancing at a child holding what appeared to be a more new, less ragged looking version of Plushtrap. I had to strain a bit, but I could faintly hear him speaking.

" _Where's your plush toy? Mine is Spring Bonnie. My daddy says..."_ I didn't bother keeping up with what he was saying further than that. Spring Bonnie...? I'd always heard that animatronic had been called Springy. Something to ask Faz about... If he ever came back, that was. Remembering him and his sudden need to disappear made me almost forget to keep up with the kid as he continued along his way.

While we walked I kept feeling that faint tingle in the back of my mind. This place, this area... It was familiar to me, almost. Almost like I knew where he was going, even if I didn't know where we were. I shook my head and listened once more as he stopped to talk to a girl. _"You'd better watch out. I hear they come to life at night. And if you die, they hide your body and never tell anyone. Why do you look so worried? See you at the party!"_ And with that she laughed before walking away. I felt something like ice water pouring through my veins. This was exactly the behavior that I'd been told to beware of from Freddy's, back when I started working the night shift there... But this was clearly way before that location. How long had this been going on?

Still further walking. Still more things, from childish taunts... _"Aren't you the kid who always hides under the table and cries? No one else is scared! Why are you! Stop being such a baby!"_ ...To more mundane matters... _"Why are you crying? Don't you like my toy collection?"_ ...To something that made me stop and listen. _"Are you going to the party? Everyone is going to the party. Oh wait, you have to go, it's YOUR birthday!"_ This made me stop in my tracks and stare. It was almost like something in the back of my mind had just flared up, registering 'birthday' with the child, and the old looking Freddy's. Something about this kid... And that old restaurant... They were connected to me, somehow.

Finally the kid and I made it back to his home, and that deja vu feeling almost made me fall over from its intensity. What was going on here?! We made it as far as his room before I saw something move from under the bed, lurching out quickly. All I managed to make out was a Foxy mask before I fell backwards, the grey mist swirling around my vision once more...

Nothing about all this made sense, as I opened my eyes in Plushtrap's hallway and kept one hand on my flashlight. This house, the child, me... Somehow they were all connected. And considering the massive gaping hole in my memories right around when I was seven years old, it could be anything. I just hoped that I figured it out before –

I reacted like lightning as I heard the breathing and giggling of Plushtrap, flicking the light on just as he was getting set to pounce at me. As soon as he was lit up he collapsed in a heap, right on the X. I let out a sigh of relief; all these mysteries had me off my game.

As the grey clouds swam around my vision once more, I just hoped I could solve some of these mysteries before it was too late...

* * *

Intriguing. So Alex is somehow connected to what happened during the Crying Child's saga... Any guesses for what that connection is? :D

Read and review!


	8. Chapter 7: The Cat and The Rat

Hey, folks. Sorry for no chapter last week - I had a bad case of writer's block...

...And SummerSlam didn't exactly help things either. ^^;

Anyway I'm back this week with Night 4 of Adams' storyline. Things are finally coming to a close - one night left for him, two more for Alex. Let's hope the two of them can bring it all together, right?

Anyway, on with the show!

* * *

 **Location CBAF**

 **Night 4, 11:50 PM**

 **Joseph Adams**

The fourth night. I'd only been cleared for a total of five, so I was running out of time to find the answers here. I knew that Faz had been onto something when he'd pointed me in this direction – everything I'd found this week was telling me that I was on the right track. Something here didn't completely make sense, but the pieces had been falling together. All I needed now was whatever was in that safe, and I was sure I'd have the whole picture.

I'd been able to dig around a bit more into what had happened between Golden Mile and Uncanny Valley. As it turned out, initially it had been a corporate espionage debacle – Golden Mile believed that the stolen endoskeleton had been an act to try and drag them down while boosting Uncanny Valley up. In investigation, it had come around that it was Candy's that had handed the stolen endoskeleton over, and then further that it was a Fazbear Entertainment custom job. With those things in mind both companies had washed their hands of the suit, and it had gone down to just Candy's vs Fazbear's.

The story had made a royal mess in the newspapers, and by the end of it none of the four companies were unsullied... If only the public had known what was going on behind the scenes. I'd actually taken a look into the cleaning company again. As it turned out, Fazbear Entertainment had a contract with them all the way until they were permanently shuttered after what we called the Marionette Incident – the second Fazbear related mess that Alex had gotten himself into. The cleaners had gotten a healthy payout after the assets were liquidated, and had proceeded to disappear off the face of the earth.

That left no question in my mind, and I'd called for a full investigation into their assets and their background – I knew it was probably too late, but if they had anything to do with making so many Fazbear employees 'go missing', and especially if they were also involved in the incident I'd seen recorded from the Uncanny Valley factory...

I shook my head. I'd looked into that one, as well. As it turned out, there was no 'missing person' there; a body had been found, mangled and decimated to the point where ID-ing the victim had been nearly impossible. Uncanny Valley had called it a 'tragic accident' with one of their employees. The story they'd given was that the employee had fallen into one of the manufacturing conveyors... One meant to assemble and weld together an animatronic suit with the endoskeleton within. The process, they said, would certainly be dangerous enough to tear a human being apart. I didn't buy that one bit, but at the time I had nothing else to go on so I let it lie. But after some further digging it turned out that the cleaners had been in. And according to time stamps, they had left a good hour or more before police were called with the report. How nobody connected the dots there... Well, that was going to have to wait until after this case was closed and I could devote my attention to giving whoever screwed that one up the reaming of a lifetime.

For now I had to check over a few more files. Most of the old Fazbear Entertainment employees and management were either locked up or so deep underground there was no chance of finding them and getting any answers, but I did have a fair handful of their documents accessible. I spent a solid few hours earlier today pouring through them, and found a connection. The marionette animatronic hadn't always been intended to be a remote control unit – in fact, plans had been drawn up to make it a 'ringleader' AI, meant to keep the others under control and marching to the same beat... But it could also be used to render only one AI required at a location, instead of the numerous ones that Freddy's operated. Saves money, saves energy, everything a company struggling to keep afloat needed. No wonder they wanted to get their hands on this one.

Especially since, as it turned out, Uncanny Valley was inept at artificial intelligence programming to the point where Candy's hadn't even bothered with it until Freddy's started making a massive splash. It was the interactivity of the animatronics that had changed the game and forced Candy's to start leaning on Uncanny Valley in the first place. This would explain why the blue Marionette had been seen in the cameras – it was a Ringleader AI... And if the behavior I've seen from the others was anything to go by, a Ringleader AI was currently running here as well.

But that still left the question of the R-A-T folder... Judging by the contents, the RAT had been a new animatronic that had been planned for use, but never put into action. The last updates about it had come around the same time as the lawsuit, as well. Maybe the RAT was Candy's prototype Ringleader?

I was mulling all of these things over when the phone rang. Time to get this show on the road.

" _Uh hello? Just checking in, making sure you're a-ok. Uh, so remember that previous security guard I told you about? Yeah, so we got a call from the police today. Apparently, he has gone missing._

 _I guess he actually was a bit crazy. I remember it, like, the day before his last night of the week, he asked me to be with him on his shift that night. He told me there was something he had to show me._

 _I know, it sounds crazy right? Although I declined, he still showed up for his shift. So. Then of course, the next morning, we found out that the Blank character had been severely damaged. Then we checked the surveillance equipment, we found out that he had brought a wrench and had completely smashed Blank._

 _He had also left the building in the middle of his shift, after that. I mean, he must have. He was nowhere to be found the next morning. Couldn't contact him or anything. So the manager just fired him and sent him a pink slip, you know? Anyway, I'll leave you to your work. Yeah. Stay tight and we'll talk again tomorrow. Have a good night."_

To say that sounded suspicious was an understatement. If someone just up and disappeared, and the only reaction was to fire him... Candy's had to know that something was up. There was too much evidence that there was something strange about the AI, and an incident like that should have sent up alarm bells across the company. So either they were more inept than I thought, or they were trying to cover it up.

The clock struck midnight, and I knew it was time to get to work. I hadn't been able to find any more boxes – at least none that looked terribly interesting, but I still hadn't checked this very office. I had always ducked out for the sake of getting somewhere to hide; this place was brightly lit, and clearly attracted the other animatronics like mad but there were still piles of paperwork around here that I had to check out.

I sighed softly. This wasn't going to go well, but I didn't have many options. I had to look into this last room if I was going to figure out what gives. With that in mind, I started pulling boxes out and shuffling through the paperwork, glancing at my cameras and keeping an eye on the progress of the animatronics as I did. Occasionally I saw little glimpses of light – the glowing eyes of the animatronics. Shutting the door as they arrived did the trick, though their blind counterpart was a lot harder.

Suffice to say I was grateful for the night vision mode on the cameras, especially as I barely managed to lunge for the door switch as I made out the faint outline of the blinded Old Candy at the door, while also locking down the window just as Blank slammed a fist into it, sending the lights inside flickering away. Once I had gotten used to their patterns it was mostly a rhythm game to jump between searching through paperwork and keeping myself safe from attack...

...Though it wasn't perfect as I ended up having to drag that infernal penguin out from below my desk and drop-kick him into the hallway. The little turd had snuck in while I was sorting through paperwork and had interfered with my doors, leaving me struggling as Chester tackled me down and attempted to punch my skull in. A jolt with the electrified baton had sufficed to save my skin that time, and when my boot met the penguin's hard plastic shell, the crunch was DEEPLY satisfying.

At this point I'd pulled a small pile of paperwork out that looked like it was relevant, and stacked it up on the desk... And a few hours had passed, bringing me to 4 AM. The first lights of pre-dawn were beginning to light up the sky, and I hadn't had to deal with the animatronics for a little bit...

...Actually more than a little bit. They'd been coming at me steady and clear for a while, but it seemed like the flow of attacks had just stopped short. Time for me to figure out what gives. I pulled up the camera and started scanning through the rooms, curiously.

No movement. Candy and Cindy were standing on stage, inert. Chester's curtain was unmoved. Even Old Candy and the Penguin were staying where I'd last seen them, in the Maintenance Room. But if they were all still sitting there...

A chill went along my spine as two pieces of information clicked in my head. R-A-T meant two different things. First it meant the RAT animatronic that had apparently never been deployed. Second was a meaning that finally range true as I remembered some of my computer security and forensics training.

R-A-T stood for Remote Access Trojan. A 'backdoor' into a computer system that allowed another entity to remotely access and control the machine infected with it. The Ringleader AI operated via a RAT uploaded to the control systems of 'dumb' machines. That would explain why the animatronics here never acknowledged each other, but still managed to move in sync. And it would explain why the Penguin managed to mess with my systems in the office; this place was infected as well. But if that was the case...

Quickly I looked down at the tablet, glancing through the cameras. I scrolled across to one feed, the one that showed the Maintenance Room next to what I believed to be storage...

A withered, mangled looking animatronic in the shape of a giant humanoid rat was currently leaning out of the door, looking around the room with a menacing looking grin frozen on its face. It glared directly into the cameras, and I saw its eyes light up for a moment... And then the camera cut out. I swore to myself, flicking between feeds quickly. Every time I switched to a camera closer to the office, the rat would turn its head to look at the camera and then the feed would cut to static.

I panicked, slamming all three doors shut just as it came around to the last corner before the office, expecting it to simply use its remote access to open it as well –

It thumped on the door angrily for a moment before simply stopping, and I heard it thumping around towards the front window. This thing was clearly a smart AI, and judging by the files... This was The Rat. The Ringleader that had caused so much of an issue. It slammed on the window a few times, sending the lights flickering and nearly cutting out, before moving to the right door... And stopping. No knocking, no smashing sounds, not a thing.

Warily I moved to the left door, pressing the button... It had no sooner whooshed open than the Rat stomped and ran its way around to that entrance. I lunged for the button again, but before I could reach it the Rat grabbed my wrist and pushed me back. That menacing look in its eyes, plus the bloodstains clearly showing around its face told me everything I needed to know. This thing was psychotic, and looking for blood. I didn't plan on enabling it. I slammed an elbow into the Right Door button and swung it open, giving me time to dart out the door and search for somewhere to hide. I needed to turn things around to my advantage.

Ducking into the entrance hall, I found a coat closet – that seemed to be my best bet for now, so I slipped inside, out of sight of the cameras, and warily pulled my handgun out. If I could catch the Rat unawares and stun baton him...

I trailed off, my memory suddenly kicking in again. When the Rat had jumped me, I'd seen something inside his mouth. A bit of torn paper, looking almost like the other half of that note I found last night. I had to get it away, see if it was the other half of that note. I heard him thumping and stomping his way towards me, his eyes flicking between glowing and not glowing as he started looking around.

An idea crossed my mind, and I slowly leveled my pistol. At this close range, the eyes of an oversized animatronic rat weren't difficult targets, so if I could just wait... He looked at me again, eyes flicked to glowing night vision, and he turned to approach me –

I squeezed the trigger, and sent a bullet straight through his left eye. He staggered back, shaking his head and then glancing back up at me before letting out an inhuman screech. That was all the distraction I needed to rush in and force my stun baton into the neck joint. He grabbed at my arm, trying to pull it away as I gave him enough voltage to shut him down.

A moment passed, and he didn't move. I slowly pried his mouth open, hesitantly reaching in – keeping the baton near the neck joint just in case he awoke again. The smell from within was terrible, and even worse recognizable. No cop likes to smell it, but most have at least once. The smell of death and decay. Clearly this thing had mangled more than a few people in his lifetime... But I managed to get the note out, pocketing it and quickly rushing back to the office as the clock hit 5 AM.

I locked the office down – I had enough juice left to make it to 6 at this point, and with the Rat disabled for the time being I figured I could get away with it. I scooted over to the computer terminal and started pulling up the video files once more, time to get my last bits of investigation done.

The camera feed faded in, back at the conveyor belt. It had been cleared of police tape and paperwork, and now Candy and Cindy were sitting on it, slouched forward and clearly shut down. As the camera panned to the left, I saw that strange blue Marionette again... This time pointing at Candy and Cindy. A bad feeling entered my veins as the camera panned away... Then came back, with Candy and Cindy back in view. The Marionette had disappeared... But now both cat animatronics were sitting up, staring directly into the camera with the same glowing eyes as it had.

That just confirmed it. The Marionette had been a Ringleader, using Remote Access Trojans to control the other animatronics – possibly because they were easy to use. But the question remained... How did this tie into Fazbear's?

I shook my head, glancing down to the note fragment I'd gotten from the Rat. Digging the other piece from my pocket, I placed them together...

" _The code for the safe is 1951. Don't let anyone know you have this! The bosses want it kept quiet but I say none of that. People died, and they just want it swept under the rug. The proof is in that safe. I'm trusting you to get this to the news just in case anything happens to me. Stay safe."_

There it was. The safe code, and the last piece I needed... Just as the clock struck 6 AM. I had to deal with this next time.

I made my way out of the abandoned restaurant, an involuntary shudder going across my spine as I walked past where I'd ambushed the Rat. Things were coming to a head and fast... I just hoped I'd be able to find the last piece of this puzzle tonight, before I ran out of time to return...

...Or the Rat finally caught me out.

* * *

Curiouser and curiouser, I believe a quote goes... Adams has most of the puzzle that he can get together at this point. Most of what's left is sadly locked up in Alex's mind, and he's still out of commission dealing with his own nightmares.

But that'll wait for next week. For now... Read and review!


	9. Chapter 8: True Nightmare

Hey! Sorry about the lack of update last week. I literally spent all day out of the house - and by that I mean I was out by 9:30 AM, and wasn't home until around 11 PM. Needless to say, I was WAY too tired to do anything except collapse into bed. Then this past week I was getting used to a new job and working on other projects... It was just hectic.

But hey, I'm here with Night 4 of Alex's story! This one is packed to all hell, and I wouldn't be surprised if some people got a bit confused. I'm not following the official timeline of how the nights escalate - artistic license is a lovely thing, especially for a game that can get as convoluted as FNAF.

So yeah. One more night for both of our heroes. Things are messy, to say the least... Can they work their way out of this one?

On with the show!

* * *

 **Unknown**

 **Alex Redding**

 **Night 4**

And thus, the world comes back into focus for me once again. Back in the child's bedroom, I was starting to sense an irritating trend at this point. Luckily the phone didn't seem to be ringing this time, which means I wouldn't be getting a headache from whatever cryptic bullcrap was being spouted through the line. For now, I had two hours to start trying to piece together whatever was going on – I was going to take good advantage of them.

With that in mind I stepped out of the room, flashlight in hand as I began to explore the halls. Something told me I still had one more room to examine... And as I turned a corner, I could see which one it was. A white door with a pink flower sticker on it, almost like a girl's bedroom. Something about all of this seemed familiar in a way I still couldn't place.

For starters, everything seemed to have come together – I was able to piece together how I was meant to survive in roughly one or two nights. Granted I'd learned quickly under pressure back at Freddy's but this just seemed different, like everything was coming to me naturally. It didn't make sense but at this point nothing else was; maybe it was just because the fear gas was working off my own subconscious? But then again, if that was the case then why was I stuck in this loop? A thought crossed my mind and sent a chill down my spine. The last thing I remembered before waking up here was the flames at Fazbear's Fright coming to take me. Maybe this was some kind of afterlife? Eternal torture and terror at the hands of these distorted horrors, versions of the friends I've lost?

I shook my head again, trying to clear the thoughts. Too many questions, not enough answers. Now was the time for action – I always worked best when I kept pushing forward anyway. And speaking of pushing forward, I slowly opened the door in front of me. The hinges creaked noisily; this room hasn't been used in a long time.

Shining the light in, it seemed like a simple enough girl's bedroom. Pink wallpaper, a few different pictures and drawings, some toys laying out... Stereotypical, but quaint in its own way. I slowly entered, shining the light across the floor. In the corner, something caught my eye; it looked like some kind of action figure that had been pulled apart, and yet it was familiar in a way. I crouched down, shining my light on it to give it a closer look...

I nearly fell backwards when I realized it was a toy version of the Mangle. That didn't make any sense at all – it had been six years since that restaurant had been shut down, why would there be any toys of them?

And that's when I heard the soft breathing behind me, on the bed. Even before I turned, I knew what I would see – it would only make sense at this point. Sure enough, Foxy was laying there, eyes closed and looking like she was asleep... Until the flashlight beam played across her and her eyes shot open, staring at me.

I was frozen in place, not even sure how to respond to this. We had a slow, even staredown as my light was held on her, and as we did that feeling of nostalgia ran through my mind once more. I had never intended to meet friends when I got the job at Freddy Fazbear's, or planned on anything that had happened in the aftermath. At the time, I was just looking for work...

 _It was roughly a month after the SWAT operation had gone bad, and I was still without a job. I'd applied at a few other departments around the area, but had no luck. It was still too close to the incident, and because a bunch of people had decided that protecting their own circles of power were more important than making sure the idiots that had screwed this one up were punished I was out on my rear with nothing going on. I was able to at least sort of live off my savings, but at the same time it wasn't a situation I wanted to continue._

 _I had started just absently looking for a job that I could just do and make money off of until the dust settled. At this point my plan was to go into business for myself – after having a taste of the backstage politics in a full department I was not keen on going back. I took this road in life to make a difference, not to be hampered by people that had gotten too big for their uniforms. For now, at least I could find a job._

 _As I glanced through the newspaper, I saw it. An advertisement for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, looking for a night guard. I hadn't thought about security as a job, it seemed a bit too tame after the work I'd done with the SWAT team. Still, a job was a job and I knew a lot of former cops moved to security guard positions when they were out. I figured it couldn't hurt..._

 _Something about Freddy's had been familiar to me, as well. I'd drove past there a few times before while I was with the department, either on patrol or just driving around town. The place had a nasty reputation about something that happened in 1987 – apparently one of the animatronics bit a kid or something? I didn't really pay much attention. At that point it had happened quite a few years back, so it wasn't really something I cared about too much. Still, I didn't know why but something about the faded place gave me a faint sense of deja vu... Maybe I went there when I was younger, before I lost my memory._

 _I shook my head a bit. Whatever happened it was in the past, and in the present I needed a job that would at least help take the edge off my bills until I could get myself established again. Besides, it was a kid's restaurant and pizzeria with a bunch of hokey animal robots._

 _What could go wrong?_

I'd learned pretty quickly what could go wrong in the week following that. Attacks from murderous machines, finally resulting in me taking the fight back to them at the end of the week when I didn't think I would even survive the night. That had been a long and insane time, and had led to where I was today...

...Wherever 'here' was. I was so lost in my memories and remembering that I didn't even notice Foxy disappearing from the bed. This place just didn't make sense – it was almost as if the fear gas was...

I was distracted from my thinking by the sound of the bell on the clock going off. I swore to myself as I glanced at the small digital clock next to the girl's bed – it had just hit 2 AM. I was stuck outside my safehouse and whatever abominations were out now had run of the house. Slowly I crept towards the bedroom's door – this place wasn't going to be safe for long, I could feel it.

I cracked the door open just in time to hear a menacing sounding laugh, one that sent chills down my spine and terror straight to my very core. Something fundamental had just changed about how things worked and it was making me terrified to the core in a way I hadn't been since...

...Since Golden Freddy's 'Processing Floor' back during the Drone Incident. And just as I thought that, an abomination rounded the corner. A very familiar looking one.

Standing before me, staring at me with menacing, glowing red eyes, was Golden Freddy himself. He was even larger than I was by a good several feet, staring down at me with razor-sharp teeth that seemed to be dripping blood. Everything about him was menacing and terrifying in the same way that the other abominations were. This was even worse than how abused his Springtrap suit had been. It was like something had crawled out of the pits of my nightmares and was now coming after me.

And it very much was coming after me as it let out an eerie, bone-chilling howl before lunging for me. I reacted purely out of instinct – I knew I wouldn't be able to take on something that big, so I ducked the claw that tried to take my head off before rushing down the hallway to try and get back to the room. If I could get in and close the door, keep him out...

I rushed in, slamming the door shut and leaning against it to keep him from opening it again. I heard that chilling laugh again, before he rushed off towards the other side of the room. Quick as a shot I'd ran to the other side of the room and slammed that door shut, squeezing my eyes closed as Golden Freddy bashed and battered at the door, trying to get in.

More running, and that menacing laugh sent another chill down my spine. I saw the closet door move – how did he get in?! Quickly I rushed over, shining my light in just in time to see his disembodied head before slamming the closet door shut. His laughter faded once more and I sat back, leaning against the door as I listened for where he could come from next. My flashlight's beam hit that disembodied head again, this time on the bed. I blinked quickly, and it was gone.

I slowly got to my feet, listening for the sounds of running... This was going to be a nightmare in and of itself.

 **Four Hours Later...**

Six AM hit, and not a second too soon. I let out a sigh of relief as I collapsed onto the bed – I'd managed to keep myself alive once again. Whatever that nightmarish version of Golden Freddy had been, I sincerely hoped that he wouldn't attack me ever again.

Slowly I sat up, trying to listen for any of those whispered voices to come back around, tempt me back into whatever bizarre hallucinations were happening... But nothing. Just an eerie silence. Maybe there wasn't anything else for me to experience? And yet, it just didn't make sense. If there wasn't anything else, then everything should make sense by now, right? But I was still here, still alone in this abandoned house. I shook my head a bit, starting to get to my feet.

Maybe I was just waiting to deal with Plushtrap once more, and move on to what I hoped would be the final night. I hoped so, at least. If this was going to keep going on and on... I couldn't even think about that. I shook my head slightly, trying to get rid of the faint ringing in my ears from the adrenaline and the many screams of anger and rage that Golden Freddy had released when he was trying to get me.

Wait a second. That ringing wasn't just a solid sound. It was more like a beeping noise, like a timer or... A heart rate monitor? Out of the corner of my eye I could faintly make out a few things, laying next to my bed. Prescription bottles of pills, a syringe or two... And an IV drip. These weren't the kind of things you would find in a normal child's bedroom – and if it was a sickly child, there would be much more energy and equipment in here as well. Something about this place just didn't make sense. I slowly got back to my feet, climbing out of the bed and starting to head for the door.

I slowly opened it, shining my light down the corridor... And then, the pre-dawn sun suddenly seemed to disappear from outside the window. My eyes widened and I spun to look at the clock. It was rapidly accelerating, speeding its way through the day. I swore to myself, trying to rush down the hall. I was done trying to just stand by – this place was cheating now, and I was done playing along. I rushed towards the door, pulling it open –

It was a brick wall. No way out. And then the clock struck midnight. I swore to myself again, I had to get back to the room before Golden Freddy came back. I rushed down the hallway in a mad sprint, bursting back into the child's bedroom... And that was when I became aware of shadows, darkness beginning to creep in and overtake the entirety of the house. Even the half-open doors weren't able to keep it out as the blackness slipped inside, the bedroom fading from view. I spun around, waving the flashlight and trying to keep some kind of orientation but all that was surrounding me was darkness.

I could feel my head swimming, faintly heard the beeping noise picking up the pace. What was going on?! My confusion was causing my heart to pound, my pulse loud and clear in my ears as I spun around like mad... Before freezing up as I heard footsteps. Behind me. I spun around –

And there was... Well, it looked like the nightmare version of Golden Freddy, but at the same time... Not. The monstrous bear before me was completely black except for those angry red eyes. I was frozen in place by whatever it was – some horrible nightmare beyond even the worst of what my subconscious could imagine.

My ears filled with the sounds of distorted static, and my head swam as I collapsed, the gray mist swirling through my vision once more as I drifted into unconsciousness...

* * *

All I'm gonna say is this.

You folks are gonna LOVE Nightmare. :D

Read and review!


	10. Chapter 9: Showdown

Hello again, folks! Another chapter. This time it's the last of Adams' adventures against the Rat and his menagerie. I tried to kick some action in as well, but I also was trying to keep the chapter from going too long and crazy - there's a fair bit of ground to cover, after all. Let me know what you think!

Not really too much to go over this time, so on with the show!

* * *

 **Location CBAF**

 **Night 5, 11:50 PM**

 **Joseph Adams**

This was it, the final night. I knew what I had to do, and where I had to go – I had the complete combination to get into the safe, and I knew that whatever I found inside it would be the final piece of the mystery. I took a few moments to go over everything I knew once more.

Faz had found something in Candy's. Something that he had tried to keep Alex away from – maybe it had something to do with that husk of a burnt-out animatronic we'd found in the remains of Fazbear's Fright. I could only assume it was another reincarnation of Golden Freddy; the letter Faz included with the package he sent me wouldn't make sense otherwise. Maybe he and the Rat had been allies, or maybe they were fighting against each other... Regardless, with one gone it seemed like the Rat was off the leash.

From what I've found since then, it seemed like Candy's had stolen a Fazbear Entertainment endoskeleton; one designed as a Ringleader AI's skeleton. Considering the similarities between the Marionette we'd dealt with in the 'improved' Freddy's and the one I'd seen in those videos, I figured it was safe to assume that it was the stolen one. They had turned it over to Uncanny Valley and asked them to try and make their own versions of that high-end AI. The Ringleader AI was defective and murderous – as many Golden Mile machines seem to be – and had killed an employee of Uncanny Valley, forcing them to hire that same shady cleaning company... Who probably clued Fazbear Entertainment in on where their missing Ringleader endoskeleton was.

That would have kicked off the massive legal fight between the two companies as Fazbear Entertainment tried to get Golden Mile to fight their battles for them, but in the end it came to Candy's vs Fazbear's. This essentially shuttered the former, but apparently the Ringleader AI was never recovered. Enter the Rat endoskeleton – odds were good the Ringleader just uploaded himself into the Rat. As for what had happened afterwards... I had a feeling Alex knew the other half of the story, but those secrets were locked away.

I figured I had pretty much the whole plot now – whatever the information was I was about to uncover, it would probably be enough to expose the whole plot. Golden Mile was shuttered and Uncanny Valley had moved to smaller scale things, but it would certainly be enough to wrap the cleaners up as well – a nice tight package to end this mess.

Hopefully it would also show where those potential 'AI Backups' that Faz mentioned in his letter were... I shook my head. Even though I wasn't as close to the band as Alex was, I still considered them friends. I'd seen how it had devastated him to lose them all. If I wanted to help him recover, I had to track down those backups. It all had to be in the safe back there.

I had a second goal, as well... I had to stop the Rat. It was clearly insane, and highly bloodthirsty. Once I left, I wasn't sure the research teams would be able to stop it from doing whatever it pleased. If I didn't shut it down permanently, who knows what it would be capable of – and we did not need a second Golden Freddy on the loose. To that end I'd done some research into Uncanny Valley's robotics. The good news was they didn't have any kind of remote backup technology; I wreck the Rat, it stays dead.

I entered the office once more, taking a seat. I wasn't going to have much time so I queued up the phone recording while I started sifting through the video files on the computer. I wanted to find as much as I could before the Rat became active.

 _"Hey, how's it going *sipping noise*. Oh, sorry, I have a latte here. Uh, anyway. I have one last thing to tell you. Um, alright, you probably noticed, uh, there's an extra door in the Second Party Room, um, which is Camera 9, I think. And it's, it's not on the map. That's because it's, it's really nothing special. It's, it's like a storage room. Um, we don't go in there much, like, I, I haven't even been in there myself, you know. I just wanted to inform you that you don't need to worry about it, and that's not a mistake that's not on the map, or anything like that. Uh, anyway, uh you've done a great job so far, uh, I talk to you next week. Uh, good night."_

Well. That wasn't very useful. Maybe the video would be more useful... Slowly it began to play, and I saw the old, broken down Candy and the Blank animatronic laying on a conveyor belt. I squinted for a moment as it seemed to be cutting in and out – was that...?

I nearly jumped out of my chair as the Puppet jumped forwards in between static cut-outs, and I could faintly see lettering playing across the bottom of the screen. " _A Mistake... My Mistake._ " It cut out again, and the screen was filled with nothing but the Puppet's face. " _A Problem... Your Problem._ " And then it cut to nothingness. And then came back a brief moment later. My eyes widened as I saw the Rat also sitting on the same belt, near the old Candy and Blank. Slowly it sat up, looked into the camera, and walked away...

This time I really did jump out of my chair as the Rat's face came into focus, within inches of the camera and with those menacing looking eyes. I saw it staring with that horrifying, permanent grin on its face before the camera's feed cut out again.

That had to have been when the Puppet uploaded itself to the Rat. I didn't know how or why, but it made sense in a twisted way. Everything from then on I'd seen already – I knew how this story played out. And now it was time for the final chapter of this sordid story.

The clock struck midnight and I unlimbered a pump-action shotgun from my back. I'd loaded it with slug rounds, figuring they'd be heavy enough to batter and smash the endoskeleton underneath the Rat into pieces. I also had a second stun baton, as well as loading my .45 up again and making sure it was ready to go. I had a feeling I wouldn't just be dealing with the Rat; after all, it had remote access to the other animatronics, so it would be able to bring them into play as well. I slowly got to my feet, sneaking my way out of the office.

Sure enough, just as I got to the first party room I saw the Rat slowly leaving that 'storage room' he was hiding inside. I kept myself low, hiding in the shadows as he slowly began looking around the area. I braced the shotgun against a stack of boxes, leaning against them to steady my aim as he began slowly stomping and thumping his way out to the room I was hiding in. Slowly he turned to face me, and I took aim at that wicked grin...

He must have flicked on night vision just in time, because just as I squeezed the trigger and unleashed my first shell, he turned to dodge away and the slug buried itself in his left shoulder joint, hitting with enough force to tear the limb clean off. He let out an angry hiss, before retreating to another room. I pumped the shotgun, ready to give chase –

And that's when Candy and Cindy stepped down from the show stage, eyes glowing as they started coming at me. I knew I wasn't going to be able to deal with the Rat with those two chasing me down so I ran for it, going in the opposite direction as I slung the shotgun and pulled my pistol back out. Time to go to work. I ducked into a side room, waiting for them to follow as I took aim and put two shots into Candy's giant, grinning head. He staggered back, plastic shards falling from where the bullets had shattered his mask before screeching and charging at me. I dodged to the side before sliding across one of the party tables, taking that as a chance to fire a third shot into the back of his head.

And that's when Cindy came around, grabbed me by the ankle, and threw me off the table. I hit the ground and rolled with the impact as she came down, getting in my face and screaming at me. Seeing my opportunity I shoved my pistol in her gaping mouth and fired, the bullet tearing through her CPU core and coming out the other side. I didn't have time to celebrate as she went limp, though – Candy was coming back my way, and I could hear the Rat rushing towards this room. Quickly I rolled away as Candy tried to cave my skull in, getting to my feet and putting a bullet in his knee joint. He fell forwards, resting on his other knee before looking up and screeching at me again as I put the muzzle of my gun to his forehead and fired, executing him cleanly.

I had no time to celebrate though as the Rat threw a chair my way. I holstered my pistol, before getting the shotgun back out – no time to aim. I fired in his general direction, but the slug went wide and smashed into his hip. The right leg was now hanging by a thread, and when the Rat fell backwards from the impact it shattered off completely. I started approaching the Rat, ready to finish him off, when Chester sprinted and tackled me down, beginning to work me over with blow after blow to my chest and midsection.

I fumbled around, trying to dodge a few of his blows before grasping the electrified baton and blocking a punch aimed for my head. This gave me an opening to jam it into his neck joint and hit the charge button, sending voltage coursing through his endoskeleton once more. This knocked him offline, and I had just enough time to push him over before pulling my handgun out and shooting him neatly through the head. He fell with a loud crash of shattering plastic, and I turned to face the Rat again.

The scumbag was trying to scramble and crawl his way towards me like some horror movie monster. Dropping my pistol for a moment I pulled the shotgun out and pumped the action again, sending another hollow shell clacking to the ground. Taking aim I fired, knocking his other leg off with one clean shot. I worked the action again and tried to take him out –

Blank grabbed me in a full-nelson, ramming me face-first into a wall hard enough to have me seeing stars and tasting blood from a split lip. I struggled, using the butt of the shotgun to bludgeon against his body, sending shards of ancient plastic shattering and splitting off of him with every impact. He let go of his grapple and tried to pull the shotgun away from me, and we began to struggle over it. I knew I wouldn't win a straight test of strength against a robot, so when he pulled a bit too hard on the shotgun I let go, sending him sprawling backwards as I dove for my pistol. Blank got to his feet quickly, trying to take aim at me with my own gun as I brought my pistol around to bear.

He fired a half-second too early and I rolled to the side as fast as I could to get away, but it still nicked my side. I swore to myself and emptied the last three rounds in the magazine into his head, managing to knock him out of play. Quickly hitting the magazine release I swapped in a fully loaded one before rushing for the shotgun again. I grabbed it just in time as the Rat was attempting to crawl his way away from the party room with his one remaining limb. Another blast of my shotgun put that plan to an end, and I was ready to finish this fight when the old Candy rushed in and pulled it away. He'd been able to hear the scuffle... Then again, I was essentially fighting a blind machine as I ducked under a wild, flailing swing. I sidestepped an attempted tackle before standing over the old machine and double-tapping through his head, taking him out of commission.

With a moment to breathe I gathered my shotgun again, looking around to try and figure out where the Rat had gone. I saw him, being pulled towards the Parts and Service room by the Penguin. Did he plan to try and fix himself? I shook my head a bit before unloading my pistol into the squat animatronic. As it went still and the light in its eyes died, I felt SO satisfied. The little bugger was an annoyance, through and through. Holstering my empty pistol, I pulled the shotgun out and stood over the Rat. It hissed, snapping its jaws at me as it growled unintelligibly.

Alex would have come up with some clever one-liner, I thought to myself as I forced the barrel of the shotgun into its mouth. But then again, he was always better at those than me. All I really could do was pull the trigger and put this psychotic machine out of its misery with a 12 gauge goodnight.

After that, silence reigned in the abandoned restaurant. That had been... Easier than I expected. Guess the combination of age and being less well-built than Golden Mile robots had been a deadly combination for them. I slung the shotgun over my back, and headed back into that Service room. Knocking a few things off the wall I found the safe again, and tapped in the combination. 1-9-5-1.

It opened, revealing a folder labeled "SL", a video tape, and a note.

" _This is the information I mentioned to you. Candy's got that homicidal endoskeleton from a sister Fazbear Brand location – apparently the place used to rent out animatronics for parties, but after some incident it was closed down completely. The place may still have animatronics, to boot. The location's in the folder, along with all the other dossiers I could find. You know how the one Candy's stole was some kind of puppetmaster? Well, apparently that tech was a beta version for a kind of weird collective-hivemind thing they tried to do there. Gives me the creeps. You've got to get this information out, bring the company down before anyone else gets hurt or worse!"_

My blood ran cold for a moment. A sister Fazbear location? That didn't sound good. Not at all. Alex and I had dealt with enough of them to last us a lifetime, and with the company shuttered it was unlikely that place was any safer than the other ones. That would explain at least why Faz thought there were backups of the band available, but if there were still other animatronics... And if they had been trying some new technology...

No this did not sound good, I thought as I grabbed the assorted items before heading out the door, locking the restaurant up behind me as the sun slowly began peeking up above the horizon. This did not sound good at all...

* * *

Everything's finally tying together, folks. Adams has most of the puzzle, all that's really left is what's locked in Alex's mind. And speaking of which...

I hope y'all enjoyed the action scenes. I know the animatronics kinda went down quickly, but with Adams' focus on firearms I didn't have too many ideas to keep those spinning. The logic I went with was that Uncanny Valley's robotics are of lesser quality in the first place, and years of neglect took their toll to make them pretty easy to deal with by a skilled fighter like Adams.

One chapter to go before we wrap this one up, so read and review!


	11. Chapter 10: It's Me

Well, here we are folks. The final chapter of Waking Nightmares - all that's left is an epilogue, and that'll probably be along in another day or two... Maybe later today, depending on how busy I am (AKA how long tonight's wrestling PPV goes! XD)

It's been one heck of a ride to get to this point, but here we are. This one is a lot longer than the usual ones, simply because I really had a lot of ideas for Nightmare. I hope they came across well!

On with the show!

* * *

 **Unknown**

 **Alex Redding**

 **Night 5**

Slowly the mist cleared from my mind again, and my eyes opened expecting to see the child's bedroom, the same way I have for the past few nights. This was not the case, as I scrambled to my feet to see nothing but the blackness surrounding me again, feeling that tremble of nervousness entering my bloodstream once more. I got back to my feet, looking around and feeling for a weapon I didn't have – not even a flashlight anymore. And then I heard it; a low, distorted chuckling sound, echoing from the blackness.

"Who's there?" I called out, secretly hoping whatever it was wouldn't respond. The last thing I remembered was that horrifying black nightmarish Golden Freddy attacking me, and then the entire room fading to blackness... My heart picked up a beat once more. Whatever was going on here wasn't natural, not at all.

" **You really don't know, do you?"** That voice rumbled out, and as I turned around I already knew what I would see. Sure enough, that all-black Golden Freddy stood there, staring at me with those menacing looking red eyes, chuckling softly to himself. **"I thought by now you'd remember... Guess some things truly are better left forgotten."**

I couldn't move. Whoever or whatever this was, he had me so petrified that I couldn't do anything – attack, run away, I was frozen in place. He stared at me for a long moment before tilting his head a little bit. **"Think about it, Redding. You've heard the beeps, seen everything... And you know this place isn't natural. What could be happening to you?"**

My mind raced for a few long moments, trying to piece it all together. This place seemed to be playing by its own rules – the bricks hadn't been there, and I'd been all but teleported around while I chased the child in between nights. Everything had a pattern that I had quickly picked up on, but nothing played by the rules of logic. Heck, I'd been having conversations with a voice that came from a toy phone! None of this made sense, it was almost as if –

My train of thought immediately stopped, and my eyes widened as everything came together. None of this – the horrors, the mysteries, the sudden appearances of my dead friends... None of it made sense in any context except for... "A nightmare. I'm asleep." My throat felt dry, drier than it had any right to be. "But if the last thing I remembered was dying at Fazbear's Fright, and I'm asleep now... The medical stuff." I stared up at the Nightmare. "I'm unconscious."

He laughed, that sound sending chills to my very soul. **"You're smarter than I gave you credit for, Alex. Correct – you've been comatose since you blacked out after defeating Golden Freddy. What you have been experiencing is the aftermath. The fear toxin working its way out of your system, so to speak... But so much more, as well."** He laughed once more, before gesturing to the side. Through the blackness, windows into those strange memories of the crying child in that old version of Freddy's.

I still wasn't sure what they were all about, glancing back up to the Nightmare and shaking my head. "...What the heck even were those? They seemed just like hallucinations of some kind, but at the same time I could've sworn there was something familiar about them. Come to think of it, there's been something bothering me for the past several nights..." I tried to think, but just couldn't clear my head. It was almost like there was a buzzing, a static surrounding me and keeping me from concentrating.

Nightmare laughed once more, shaking his head as he stared at me with those red, unblinking eyes. **"Correct. There is something familiar... But to know for sure what it is, you do have one more thing to experience."** He waved a hand, and I found myself falling through the gray mist once again.

I got to my feet as the fog cleared, and I was standing inside the old Freddy's once more. A few kids, all in character masks, surrounded the crying child. I was sitting a few tables away, and if I strained I could hear them speaking.

" _...Kind of a baby, isn't he?"_

" _...Help him get a closer look?... Love it!"_

" _...Give this little man a lift, he wants to get up close and personal!"_

My eyes widened as the kids' voices became more clear, watching on as they lifted him upwards, towards the jaw of the Golden Freddy animatronic. A feeling like ice pouring into my veins went through me; whatever was happening next was not going to be good. I tried to struggle to my feet, but it was like something was holding me down. Looking around, I could faintly see the shadowy figure of Nightmare watching on coldly.

The crying child protested, squirming and trying to struggle away, but to no avail as the boys lifted him up even closer to the jaws.

" _Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!"_

My heart pounded in my chest as a connection formed in my mind. There was a reason all of this sounded so familiar. I looked down at myself...

I was in a child's body, wearing a Freddy's t-shirt and holding a toy pistol. It all came flooding back to me in a moment as I glanced up to the side, seeing a police officer, not paying attention to what was going on, speaking to one of the parents. Everything hit me at once, and suddenly I knew exactly what had happened to me so long ago.

So long ago, back in 1987. Back when I lost my memories.

" _On three! One... Two..."_

The children pushed the crying child's head into Fredbear's mouth. The animatronic struggled, its eyes took on a wicked looking glow... And then it bit down with a sickening CRUNCH as I finally remembered what had happened to make me forget.

I had witnessed The Bite of 1987.

Everything from there came into shocking clarity as I fell to my knees. The police officer rushed to try and pry the boy's head from Fredbear's – Golden Freddy's – mouth. The children scattered, screaming and crying. My parents, trying to rush me away as I just stood there and stared, unable to tear my eyes away from the horrible sight before me. The one thing I remembered above everything, however... Was that police officer, somehow trying to rally and calm everyone down, trying to help people even though he was supposed to be going off duty for the day.

All that had stuck out in my head, even after I'd forced the memories to be locked away and hidden, just to preserve my sanity. And now there they were, back together. I finally understood why I'd become so attached to the Fazbear band, and what had happened to me to make me forget everything. The Bite had traumatized me so drastically that all I could remember were a few small, fleeting key things that had dictated my course in life ever since. I'd gone into law enforcement because that officer had stuck out in my mind. I'd taken the security job with Freddy Fazbear's because I remembered it had been important to me – before the Bite, it was one of my favorite places to go and get away.

Everything made sense, even Golden Freddy's singular focus and hatred of me. I had known, even back then, that there was something wrong – something off about that animatronic in particular. I shook my head a bit as the chaos of the scene began swirling into blackness once more, with Nightmare standing before me. **"So now you remember. You know what truly happened... Then again, I knew all along."** He let out that cold, echoing, humorless laugh again as I stood there, staring at him.

"There's just one piece missing, you freak. I've dealt with all the other nightmares, defended myself against them over the past several nights. But who the heck are you?!" I tried to make it sound angry, but something about him just had me completely off-balance at this point as I glared at him.

He shook his head, laughing a bit. **"Oh, I suppose I should at least resolve one final mystery..."** With that he grasped that massive head, slowly pulling it off... And revealing a human head beneath as he tossed the costume's head to the side and looked back at me. My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

Staring at me, with those still faintly-glowing red eyes and a malevolent smirk to go with his dirty, messy hair and scarred, bloodstained face was... Me. **"Like looking in a mirror, eh?"** The not-me laughed out once more, a malevolent smirk on his face. **"It wasn't the trauma that did it, Alex. The trauma broke your psyche, and I was born. A product of the terror you felt and the hatred burning inside you for the boys that caused your friend so much pain."**

That was it. That was why this house looked so familiar, and why I had been able to follow the crying child around. He had been a friend of mine, all those years ago... **"You had wanted to hurt them, and you were lashing out. So, the doctors locked those memories away, hid them from you. That's why everyone lied to you, Alex – because they didn't want that aggressive side back."** He laughed out, throwing his head back and grinning. **"But it never really died off, did it? I was always there, always at the back of your mind... Whispering suggestions to you, like when you used the withered animatronics to kill that cult leader, during your second little 'adventure'."**

I shook my head once more, but the pieces were fitting together too well. That really hadn't been like me – I had chalked it up to anger at how many kids had died, but now that I could think it really did seem like he was right. I tried to clear my head, something still didn't make sense. "So... You took advantage of the fear gas and my unconsciousness to manifest yourself, and throw these nightmares at me. You were trying to break me, trying to get me to remember what happened, and break the lock holding you back... But why?!" I was yelling now, my fear starting to ebb as I felt anger taking hold.

He paused for a moment before grinning malevolently at me, and one massive arm rose – baring the claws on the end of the suit's paw. **"I thought it was obvious! Alex... I am you. But not the 'you' that everyone knows. I've been stuck holding on for the ride while you blunder your way through life, through your idealism and idiocy."** He shook his head. **"I'm stronger than you, Alex. I've experienced pain the same way you have, but I've learned to feed off it. Use it."** He laughed, before setting his feet. **"So now, I've decided to give you a taste. You see, you've been patching up and healing this entire time. Soon you'll awaken again..."** He grinned, dropping into a fighting stance. **"But it's not going to be you taking the driver's seat anymore. I'm done sitting on the sidelines, it's time for me to take over!"**

With that he charged, and I dove to the side as those razor-sharp claws cut through the air where I had been standing seconds before. He turned, grinning at me before charging again, and I took off running.

So this was how I would go out. Not fighting, but running for my life in my own mind, trying to get away from some fractured schizophrenic piece of my psyche that had been shattered away by the company that had ended up later giving me some amazing friends, right before stripping them away one by one. The worst part wasn't the thought of dying – I had gone into Fazbear's Fright ready to not walk out alive, after all. No, the worst part was thinking of this monster, walking around and taking control. I had to at least try to fight back, but with no weapons...

I paused in my thinking for a moment. What was I even doing? Deep down, even though he had been building this horror show with me specifically in mind, it was still _my mind._ I made the rules here. I dodged to the side as Nightmare attacked me once again, before concentrating...

My batons fell into my grasp. They weren't much, but against this beast? They were enough. He charged at me once more, and this time I ducked his swipe and came around, hooking his leg with one baton and tripping him up. He fell with a satisfying THUD, and I came down with a few attacks to his back. A growl of pain and anger came out, and he grabbed my own ankle before pulling me down and tossing me like a rag doll. **"You really think you can stop me?! I FEED off pain, Alex!"**

That was something I planned to test as I scrambled back to my feet and charged, coming in with strike after strike. I threw a combination of swings, nailing his limbs and upper body before he grabbed me by the shirt, head-butted me, and threw me to the ground. I groaned, slightly winded from the impact, but managed to recover enough to roll out of the way of his giant foot coming down where my head had been an instant before. This gave me an opening to land a double baton strike to his back, sending him forward onto his face again. I stomped down, going for the legs and smashing the heavy heads of my batons into his knees and he roared out.

I was about to deal a final blow to the back of his head, when the world flashed white for a brief moment. This knocked me off balance enough for him to toss me away, before picking me up by the throat and glaring at me. **"No... NO. You are not going to wake up without me!"** He splayed his claws, looking to disembowel me with one good strike. I moved a baton up just in time to try and block it, testing his strength against my own. I knew I couldn't outlast him, but if that flash was what I thought it was... Another flash of bright light, and his grip around my throat faltered. I came down on the shoulder socket with a powerful blow from my baton, and heard him scream out as he let go of me. I got to my feet and turned just in time to see the damage.

Nightmare's shoulder had been knocked out of its socket by my blow, and he was growling in pain and anger. With a malevolent roar he cried out and pushed it back into place, before coming at me with heavy, powerful steps. I noticed the blackness surrounding us was slowly brightening, turning to a lighter gray color as I stood there, staring him down. "You're not coming out. I don't care that I was ready to go before. I'm alive now, and that's all I need to keep fighting. You understand me?!" I let out an angry war cry, charging him and smashing him over and over again, a flurry of powerful blows to his form. "YOU ARE NOT COMING OUT!"

His roars of pain were becoming deafening now as he tried to block and defend himself from my attacks, the blackness of his suit becoming more and more faded away as I chipped at it, knocking large, rotted hunks away with every blow. His rage was palpable as he tried to rally, tried to recover from this crushing assault but I wouldn't have it as I kept smashing him, over and over again –

He managed to hook one leg around my own, pulling back and bringing me to the ground. I could see blood coming from his eyes and mouth now as he wrapped those hands around my throat and began to squeeze. **"Thirty. Years. I've waited THIRTY YEARS for this, Alex! You are not going to deny me now!"** His red eyes narrowed as he squeezed, trying to strangle the life out of me as our surroundings got brighter and brighter. **"All I have to do is give one good twist, and then when your eyes open... It'll be me looking out."** He grinned malevolently, setting himself. **"Goodbye, Alex. It's been fun riding along, but it's time for me to take over."**

I had one shot at this. I had to try and drive him away, and I focused as hard as I could, trying to change those batons into something else... And they shifted, the growing darkness in my eyes allowing them to become wavy enough for me to change their form...

Into my gun and taser. I grit my teeth, trying to summon up a last bit of energy. "...It's... Not you..." I wheezed out. "...N-Not you, that'll be... Waking up..." He looked at me curiously, tilting his head for a moment.

That gave me the opening I needed as I brought my taser arm up, driving it into his neck and squeezing the trigger. He let out a cry of agony as the voltage pumped through him, letting go of my throat and pushing my arm with the taser away. I scrambled up to my feet as faint bits of smoke came from his suit, and he let out an angry hiss as he tried to lunge for me once more –

Just as I put the barrel of my magnum to his forehead and pulled the trigger as many times as I could, the heavy revolver rounds splitting his head open like a rotten fruit and releasing a massive cloud of black smoke and ash. "...It's... Me." I coughed out once more, dropping my weapons as I fell backwards, my eyes closing as my surroundings grew brighter...

...And then, when they opened again, I heard the faint beeping of a heart rate monitor. I saw an IV connected to my arm, and bandages and casts along several parts of my body. I was laying in a hospital bed, my head clearer than it had ever been. Weakly I smiled, before laying my head back on the pillow.

A nurse had just come in, and was staring at me with wide eyes as I weakly spoke. "H-hi..." She nearly fell over, before rushing out the door. I heard a fair bit of commotion out in the hallway, and grinned to myself again.

I'd made it.

* * *

One heck of a plot twist, huh? I hope it took y'all with at least some level of surprise. But yeah, Alex finally remembered what happened to him to make him lose his childhood memories.

Now I'm sure placing Alex at the Bite of 87, and directly referring to 30 years since it happened, will throw a few monkey wrenches into the timeline for the Reddingverse so let me head them off right here.

Alex is, at this point in the timeline, in his late 30s. He's not some young upstart hero, and technically he never has been - you won't see someone in his early-mid 20s having been a former SWAT team leader turned night guard, after all.

Anyway I've blathered on long enough. Read and review, folks!


	12. Epilogue: A Bittersweet Reunion

Nothing really to say here besides, well - epilogue time! The conclusion of this particular story... And finally time to move on to what I've decided will be the final Alex Redding story. I'll be doing my own thing for Sister Location, so hopefully it comes out well!

* * *

 **City Hospital**

 **Alex Redding**

"...The Rat was finally dead and gone and all the other robots were powered down – with no Ringleader AI to give them their orders, they just went into a full shutdown. I grabbed the files from the safe and hit the road." Adams finished recounting his own story as I shifted a bit in my bed.

It had been a few days since I'd woke up, and Adams had been taking some time to fill me in on the details of what I'd missed while I was out. I had considered telling my own story, about how I'd relived my memories and fought an evil splinter of my psyche while I was out, but figured that would be a fast track to the loony bin. For now I was happy to just keep my memories to myself – it wasn't like telling them would help anything. "Sounds like you had a nice taste of what I had to deal with. It ain't easy, dealing with murderous machines, huh?"

Adams rolled his eyes and laughed once more. "Tell me about it. Couple times they almost had me – I'm no hand to hand fighter, Alex. Anyway, I was able to start hunting through those files for a bit." He shook his head. "Turns out that letter I found from Faz was right – there is another Fazbear location, forgotten and buried."

I sat up a bit straighter, this had my attention. "You don't think that..." I had told Adams about what had happened at Fazbear's Fright as well – including using the virus to 'kill' Golden Freddy. He shook his head a little bit, knowing where I was going with that one.

"No chance. That bear is done – for good this time. And the Ringleader's dealt with as well. I sincerely doubt there'd be anything particularly nasty even left down there; it's probably just been serving as a storage area. I left it with the AI research guys; they're gonna set up a lab station and start looking into the place." He grinned a bit at me. "Who knows, maybe they'll find some more Fazbear endoskeletons and the AI backups that letter talked about."

I grinned and nodded at that. "That would be some great news. Finally put a cap on this whole mess..." I paused for a moment as I heard a knock at my door. Adams glanced at me, and I shrugged – I wasn't expecting any other visitors. "Come in." The door opened...

And in walked Frederick Faz himself, looking a bit more aged and somewhat worse for wear, but not too badly off. He smiled wearily at me as he entered. "Ah, Alex my boy..."

Adams was immediately on his feet, glaring at Faz. "Y'know, it would have been nice if you had told us more about what was going on instead of just vanishing off the face of the planet, you old coot." I winced a bit – Adams hadn't been too thrilled about Faz just wandering off.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I do apologize for that... As well as for not giving you much in the way of information before sending you off to deal with Candy's. You must believe me when I tell you I had no intention of putting you in that much danger, however with Alex out of play I needed to make sure things were prepared..." He slowly entered, and I motioned to a chair. "You see, there is one more problem – the one I originally went into hiding from."

I sat up, shaking my head a bit. "Not a chance, Faz. I killed Golden, and you sent Adams out to take out the Rat – they're both gone. The problem's over, Fazbear Entertainment is wrapped up."

Adams nodded as well. "By the time the courts get through with the last few dregs of what's left from all this, everyone that even had a remote connection to the nastier sides of Fazbear Entertainment will be locked up in a hole for good. There's nothing left."

Faz shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid there's one other person. You see, Golden Freddy was the original problem on the animatronic end, however I had long suspected that someone else had a hand in first destabilizing his AI towards murderous tendencies. I did not have any evidence of this until after the second encounter with them – the one where the band was exposed." Faz hunted around before pulling a file folder out. "You saw the RAT one, I'm sure – I had left that behind simply because I believed it to be in safe hands with you, Alex. You would trust me enough to not pursue it. However, there was another document that I took because I knew anyone that had it would be in grave danger."

I took the folder from him, opening it and beginning to look over it. It seemed to be a Fazbear Entertainment employee file. One for someone VERY high up the chain. "Faz, what's all this?"

"My worst fears realized, Alex. You see, back when I first took ownership of Fazbear Entertainment I had bought it from the original founder, who agreed to a very reasonable sum provided he was still allowed to remain high on the chain within the company. He had built it from the ground up, you see – he was decades ahead of his time on AI research and robotics construction. I didn't see this as an issue, so I agreed and after the deal was done I made him head of research and development." Faz sighed for a moment. "If only I'd known what he had in mind, truly... As time went on, he came up with much more elaborate designs – including what he called the 'Funtime' line. The original idea was to use them as for-hire entertainers to go to children's parties. It was a good idea and a smash hit... Until one day, a young girl went missing during a party." He shook his head. "Nobody ever knew what happened to her, and nobody ever found her again. Her younger brother was traumatized..."

I held up a hand, shaking my head a bit. "Don't tell me. The younger brother died a few years later in the Bite of 1987."

Faz's eyes widened, before slowly saddening. "So you finally remembered..." I nodded grimly.

Adams finally shook his head and held his hands up. "Wait, hang on a minute. What the heck are you on about, Alex?" I sighed and explained to him that during my coma I'd finally remembered the part of my childhood that had been blocked out. He shook his head again, putting his face into his hands. "Alex, buddy... This is getting messy and fast."

Faz spoke again. "It will get worse before it improves. I had always figured Fredbear had been tampered with somehow – the failsafes had been disabled, or something. But the more research I did, the more I realized the truth. Fredbear, our oldest and longest lasting animatronic, had been designed from the beginning to be capable of killing."

Things were finally sinking in, and I started looking through the file Faz had handed me even closer. "So wait. This guy, the founder and R&D head... He...?"

Faz nodded. "Correct. And the more I examined the animatronic's designs – something I had never truly bothered to do until then – the more I realized what was happening underneath me. I tried to shut him out; I shut down the 'Funtime' location, closed the doors at Fredbear's Family Diner, and later rebooted things at the new Freddy Fazbear's. The individual in question left shortly afterwards, and I assumed he had gone into hiding to try and avoid any further scrutiny... Until the Missing Children Incident, as we called it." He sighed once more. "Five children went missing from the new Freddy Fazbear's – the one where the 'Toy' animatronics had first been used, before the restaurant you dealt with. At the time we had two Fazbear's locations; one with the Toys, and one with the original band – the one you ended up working at."

The pieces were starting to fall together and I spoke up. "The Toy location closed down and everything there was put into storage, and then when night guards started dying at the other location everything started coming apart – that was roughly when I entered the picture. Correct?"

Faz nodded again. "Indeed. It was following that, and the new 'Toy' incident, that I re-opened the files regarding my former R&D head. That was when I first found out about the stolen animatronic that had led to legal issues between Fazbear Entertainment and Candy's Burgers and Fries... And where I found out that the Funtime location had still been receiving shipments of animatronic parts and materials. A few weeks later I got a package from an unknown source. It had Fredbear's original hat in it, as well as a copy of the diagrams for the 'Ringleader' marionette – the one we never were able to finish."

I nodded, understanding dawning on me. "You put two and two together, figured out that the R&D guy was back, and went underground because you thought he'd come after you. You warned me away from Candy's because you figured he'd leave me and the band alone..."

Adams piped in. "...And when Alex went into a coma you got in touch with me, told me about Candy's and the lead there, and this led us to this so-called 'sister location', which you're calling the Funtime location. Right?"

Faz smirked a bit. "You two are very clever indeed. Correct – I originally thought that without me in play, he would leave you all alone. However the fact that Golden Freddy managed to be revived once more – an action that could not have been done under his own power – and then proceeded to enact his revenge proved otherwise. I needed both of his 'hands' removed so I could return and attempt to plan against him."

I shook my head, raising a hand. "Wait, you've lost me. How are they his 'hands'? They're both sentient AI – they're not under anyone's direct control. Right?"

Faz shook his head. "Correct, they are not under direct control. However, even sentient AI can be... Manipulated. Anyone with access to their control processors can introduce subtle 'ideas' to them, gently nudging and guiding them to take specific actions. That was what he was doing – manipulating Golden Freddy in such a delicate way that he truly thought he was the one in charge and coming up with the ideas." He shook his head and sighed. "And with that in mind, his hideout is made even more menacing... You see, if he was simply somewhere 'underground', he would not have been able to directly manipulate Golden Freddy or the Ringleader. He had to have access to Fazbear Entertainment systems."

My eyes widened as I figured out where he was hiding, and Adams groaned out. "You've got to be kidding. The only place that means is..."

Faz nodded grimly. "The Funtime location. That's where he has been hiding for so long, manipulating everything in his own dire goals. My friends, I am afraid that this is not going to truly be over until he is found and brought to justice."

I sighed, shaking my head as I closed the folder up. "Faz... I'm still recovering. It'll take time for me to be back up and running, and even then I don't know if I'll ever be at 100% again." I paused for a moment, before glancing over the folder again. "Does this guy have a name?"

Adams looked at me before shaking his head. "Alex... You're not running this one alone, got it? I haven't nearly gotten myself killed repeatedly trying to save your bacon just to watch you rush into the lion's den when you've already had a near death experience or two."

I nodded, raising my fist for him to bump. "I wouldn't have anyone else backing me up on this one, old friend." He bumped my fist and I nodded. "Alright, Faz. It'll take me some time to get patched up but you're right. This has to stop. Who is this guy specifically, and what do we need to do?"

Faz nodded slightly. "His name is William Afton, and if he has had this much time to work then who knows what he has been able to do with the Funtime animatronics. I'll see what I can find of the place while you are recovering, Alex."

I sighed for a moment before laying back in my hospital bed again. "...How many times am I gonna have to wreck animatronics before this whole mess ends..."

Adams spoke up, glancing to Faz. "Listen, we're gonna go do some research. You've had a lot dropped on ya at once, buddy – get some rest." I nodded and the two of them left my room, letting me lay back and close my eyes...

" **Alex..."** That voice again. My eyes opened and I was surrounded in blackness, except for the beat-up, abused version of me, gesturing to a chair across from where he was sitting in the emptiness. **"Yes, I'm still alive. Not like you can 'kill' an entire other part of yourself... Guess I realized that when I woke up after you blew my head off, heh."** He chuckled darkly to himself and I could see a bullet hole shaped scar on his forehead as I hesitantly took a seat.

" **Let me guess. You're wondering what I want. Well... Let me put it this way."** He cracked his neck and smirked. **"You're beat to a pulp and trying to patch yourself up. And unlike you, I feed off the pain. And by the sound of what your friends are telling you, there's gonna be a lot of pain in your future..."** He grinned a bit. **"I can help you deal with it. I can help you fight back. All you have to do... Is take the offer."** He extended a hand.

I stared at it, not trusting him one bit as he glanced at me... Then sighed for a moment. **"No tricks, Alex. No more trying to take over, none of that. You'll need a more aggressive side if you're going to fight at this point. I am that aggressive side. I promise, I won't come out to play unless you need me... After all, I know you can take me out anytime."** He patted his scar again. **"I'd rather get some playtime on your terms than none at all. Plus, being killed is a genuinely unpleasant experience – I don't want to deal with it again. So, what do you say? Partners?"**

I knew I was going to regret this... But I took his hand and shook it. "Partners. On my terms."

He laughed softly in that malevolent way before nodding. **"Deal. Now, go get some sleep... Wake me when you need me."** With that, he – and everything else, faded into the dark as I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

The last thing I thought before the lights went out was wondering how I'd gotten myself into this mess...

* * *

Yeah, Nightmare's not truly 'dead'. Figured he may come in handy for the finale.

Read and review!


End file.
